WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden stretched out for Republican support for his Supreme Court nominee Tuesday, inviting the GOP’s top Judiciary Committee senator to the White House along with the panel’s Democratic chairman and phoning Republican leader Mitch McConnell for a one-on-one discussion.
Biden and fellow Democrats are working for significant Republican backing for the still-to-be-named nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer – a steep challenge in a Senate that has been sharply and bitterly divided over the past three confirmations.
At the White House, former longtime Sen. Biden called Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois and the ranking Republican, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, “two good friends” and noted that they had worked on many Supreme Court nominations together in their decades on the panel.
He noted that the Constitution calls for Senate “advice and consent,” on a nominee, and he said, “I’m serious when I say I want the advice of the Senate as well as the consent.”
As Biden mulls a replacement for Breyer – a Black woman, he has promised – Durbin has been proposing a ceasefire of sorts after wrenching partisan fights over former President Donald Trump’s three nominees. The Democratic Illinois senator has been vigorously reaching out to GOP colleagues since Breyer announced last week that he will step down this summer.