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While most of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees are confirmed by the Senate Democratic majority, there are exceptions. The White House, for example, has stood behind Adeel A. Mangi’s nomination to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, though the civil litigator has faced a rather brutal smear campaign from the far-right.
The ugliness of the campaign is indefensible, though in theory it wouldn’t necessarily derail Mangi’s chances. In practice, he’s now unlikely to be confirmed in part because Sen. Joe Manchin said last week that he’s prepared to vote with the nominee’s Republican critics.
But as it turns out, that’s not the only thing the West Virginian said. Politico reported:
Joe Manchin has a new rule when it comes to President Joe Biden’s judicial picks: If they don’t have Republican backing, he won’t vote for them. The retiring West Virginia Democrat has quietly voted against several judicial picks this week, making for some close — though still ultimately successful — votes on the Senate floor. Manchin said there’s a method to his opposition.
“Just one Republican. That’s all I’m asking for. Give me something bipartisan. This is my own little filibuster. If they can’t get one Republican, I vote for none,” the conservative Democrat told Politico. “I’ve told [Democrats] that. I said, ‘I’m sick and tired of it, I can’t take it anymore.’”
So, a few things.
First, by Manchin’s own telling, he’s not evaluating judicial nominees solely based on their qualifications. Instead, he’s prepared to reject good nominees, who’ve earned the right to serve on the federal bench, if members of the Senate minority disapprove of them.
It’s a model that effectively says that the Senate minority deserves to have veto power when it comes to the judiciary, which is both deeply strange and wholly at odds with the American tradition.
Second, it’s also at odds with Manchin’s own approach to governance during Donald Trump’s presidency. When Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination came to the floor, every other Senate Democrat opposed the controversial conservative. Manchin didn’t say, “Just one Democrat. That’s all I’m asking for. Give me something bipartisan.” Instead, the West Virginian voted to confirm Kavanaugh anyway.
There were also lower-court Trump judicial nominees who faced Democratic opposition, only to have Manchin shrug with indifference and vote to confirm anyway.
The fact that the senator is making it easier for Republicans to reject qualified judicial nominees is annoying. The fact that Manchin applied a far easier standard to Trump’s judicial nominees makes it worse. (This doesn’t just apply to the judiciary: Manchin has adopted a far more difficult standard for Biden’s nominees in other areas, too.)
Finally, there’s a larger electoral context to consider. When the incumbent lawmaker was still eyeing a possible re-election campaign in a deeply red state, it stood to reason that he’d look for opportunities to put some distance between himself, his party, and the Democratic president.
But as things stand, Manchin is retiring. He doesn’t have to impress anyone. Given that the senator will turn 77 over the summer, it’s likely that his name will never appear on any ballot again.
All of which suggests he’s launched this “little filibuster,” not as a tactical or electoral move, but because Manchin believes this bizarre approach has merit.
He’s mistaken.