Abortion, parental rights, trans issues: What would a Kamala Harris victory look like?
Supreme Court
Harris’ ability to appoint Supreme Court justices will depend on the partisan makeup of the Senate. The RealClearPolitics “no toss-up” map predicting the outcome of Senate races based on polls shows Republicans are projected to hold 51 seats while Democrats are forecasted to win 49.
Should a vacancy arise during the next two years, the possibility looms large that a Republican-controlled Senate would simply refuse to hold confirmation hearings for the nominee and leave the seat vacant until the next presidential election. This is what happened in 2016, when Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died nine months before the presidential election.
Rather than hold hearings for Merrick Garland, then-President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace him, the Republican-controlled Senate left the seat open until the election. Trump ultimately won the election, enabling him to appoint Neil Gorsuch to the seat once held by Scalia.
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Since Democrats attempted to filibuster Gorsuch, the Republican-controlled Senate changed the rules so that Supreme Court nominees could secure confirmation with a simple majority of 51 votes instead of the 60-vote threshold required under the filibuster rule. Now that Supreme Court nominees only require support from a simple majority of Senators, a Democrat-controlled Senate would mean that Harris should have little trouble confirming Supreme Court nominees if vacancies arise.
The Supreme Court consists of six justices appointed to the bench by Republican presidents and three justices picked by Democratic presidents. Depending on which vacancies pop up during a Harris administration, appointments made during the next four years could have the effect of moving the balance of the court to the Left.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
