Durbin pours cold water on Democratic hopes for SCOTUS hardball

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin said Wednesday that Democrats should give future Supreme Court nominees a vote regardless of which party controls Congress, rejecting the idea of mirroring Mitch McConnell's tactics that blocked Merrick Garland's 2016 nomination for ten months before rushing through Amy Coney Barrett's in 2020. Durbin also dismissed court-expansion proposals as unrealistic given the near-certainty of a presidential veto even after a strong midterm result.

Speaking alongside Republican Representative Darrell Issa, Durbin blamed Trump's rhetoric toward the judiciary for politicizing the court's public perception, while Issa argued lawmakers from both parties share responsibility for accusing justices of corruption. Both agreed the court has grown more politicized but split on the cause.

Separately, Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse plans to reintroduce legislation imposing 18-year staggered term limits on justices and altering the Senate's confirmation role, a proposal neither Durbin nor Issa described as welcomed by the judiciary itself.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.