Perhaps Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) greatest claim to fame was his preventing President Barack Obama from filling the Supreme Court seat previously held by Antonin Scalia by refusing to allow committee hearings or a floor vote on Merrick Garland, the ‘stealth’ moderate whom the President had nominated. Senator McConnell kept that seat vacant until Donald Trump was in office, and the seat went to much more conservative Neil Gorsuch.
The Democrats waxed wroth, and tried to filibuster Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, but that was hardly the first time they tried it: they also filibustered the nomination of Samuel Alito, and though there was no filibuster attempt against Clarence Thomas, his nomination squeaked through by a bare 52-48 margin. Other than Chief Justice John Roberts, who received 22 negative votes, the Democrats have made a significant effort to block every Supreme Court Justice appointed by a Republican President who is currently sitting on the Court: filibustering Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed by a bare 50-48 vote and Amy Coney Barrett was filibustered as well, and confirmed 52-28 with all Democrats voting against her.
In contrast, Sonia Sotomayor was easily confirmed, including nine Republican votes, 68-31, and Elena Kagan had five GOP votes on her way to a 63-37 confirmation vote.
President Trump’s cabinet nominations also received heavy Democratic opposition, and had the Democrats had the Senate majority, they’d probably all have been rejected.
So, it was with some surprise that I read that Senator McConnell was going to allow floor votes on the incoming President’s cabinet nominations:
McConnell says he will allow Biden’s Cabinet nominees a hearing
Max Berley, Bloomberg News | December 21, 2020
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will allow President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees to get consideration by the upper chamber.
Biden’s nominees “aren’t all going to pass on a voice vote, and they aren’t all going to make it, but I will put them on the floor,” McConnell said in an interview with Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator, published Monday in the Louisville Courier-Journal in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky.
In the interview conducted last week, McConnell said he didn’t intend to “bring the administration to its knees” the way he said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., did by requiring cloture votes for many of President Donald Trump’s nominees to overcome filibusters.
There’s more at the original, but let’s face facts: it doesn’t matter whom Joe Biden nominates, they’re all going to be purveyors of bad policies. Reject one, and someone else just as bad will replace him.
There is a simple tactic the GOP could use to signal disapproval of the incoming President and his policies: Republican Senators could vote “Present” on confirmation of all but the worst of the worst, which would not block the nominees from confirmation but which would not signal approval either.