Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he did not oppose President Joe Biden’s plan to nominate a Black woman to the US Supreme Court.
The Republican leader’s remarks contradict those of other Republicans such as Sens Josh Hawley and Roger Wicker, who both objected to Mr Biden’s plans to name a Black woman to succeed retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Mr Wicker told The Washington Post that any nominee would be the “beneficiary” of an affirmative action “quota.” Sen Susan Collins of Maine, who won reelection in 2020 despite Mr Biden winning her state, similarly called Mr Biden’s announcement “clumsy at best”.
But Mr McConnell told a crowd in Lexington, Kentucky that he does not have the same objections.
“I heard a couple of people say they thought it was inappropriate for the president to announce he was going to put an African American woman on the court,” he said. “Honestly, I did not think that was inappropriate.”
Mr McConnell noted how presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump both said they would nominate women and fulfilled their promises, with Sandra Day O’Connor and Amy Coney Barrett, respectively.
“I’m not complaining about that,” Mr McConnell said.
Mr McConnell also promised that the GOP would have “the kind of process I think you can be proud of”, Politico reported.
During Mr Trump’s presidency, Mr McConnell spearheaded the confirmation of all three of Mr Trump’s nominees, including Ms Barrett, along with Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Mr McConnell blocked former president Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat, not even allowing a hearing for Mr Garland.
Similarly, Mr McConnell removed the filibuster to confirm Mr Gorsuch, which Mr McConnell said was in response to Democrats’ removal of the filibuster for lower-court and cabinet nominations during the Obama administration.
The remarks also echo those of Sen Roy Blunt, a member of GOP leadership.
“I have no problem with President Biden's commitment nominate a Black woman. I'd love to be able to vote for a Black woman to join the court but we'll see what kind of philosophy that nominee has,” he said. “There are a lot of great Black women judges and even more great Black women lawyers and we'll see what he comes up with.”
