In my post yesterday, I might have understated the significance of Democratic senator Joe Manchin’s new practice of voting against any judicial nominee of President Biden’s who doesn’t have the support of a single Republican senator.
I observed that the fact that Democrats have 51 seats in the Senate means that Manchin’s new practice won’t itself lead to the defeat of any judicial nominees. But as a reader reminds me, Democratic senator Bob Menendez’s trial is scheduled to begin in May, so when he is not present to vote, the Democratic margin will be reduced to 50 to 49, and that means that Manchin plus a unified Republican caucus would have the votes to defeat any nominee.
Plus, lots of Democratic senators will want to be in their home states during the summer and during the election campaign.