HMM, THIS COULD TURN OUT TO BE IMPORTANT – OVERNIGHT:  Wild speculation is growing as to who President Biden will nominate for the Supreme Court, now that Justice Breyer has been shoved out gracelessly.  Inevitably, the talk turns to getting that nominee confirmed.  The Senate is divided 50-50.  Well, some experts say, even if each side holds all its members, Vice President Kamala Harris would break the tie in favor of the Biden nominee. 

But wait.  It may not be so.  Laurence Tribe of the Harvard Law School, a certified and celebrated liberal, believes those experts have it wrong.  From Daily Caller:   

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law professor and legal ally of President Joe Biden’s administration, has stated that vice presidents do not have the authority to make a tie-breaking vote for a Supreme Court nominee’s approval in the Senate.

News of Justice Stephen Breyer’s intent to retire broke Wednesday. The news puts Biden in the position of having to pass a nominee through a 50-50 Senate, raising the question of whether Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

Tribe has previously advised the administration on at least one questionable legal move: the extension of a federal eviction moratorium in August.

Tribe previously weighed in on the issue in September of 2020, when he argued “the vice president doesn’t have the power to break a tie” on an appointment. Tribe made the statement as Republicans were gearing up to approve former President Donald Trump’s final SCOTUS nominee, then-judge Amy Coney Barrett.

“While the vice president has the power to cast a tiebreaking vote to pass a bill, the Constitution does not give him [or her] the power to break ties when it comes to the Senate’s “Advice and Consent” role in approving presidential appointments to the Supreme Court,” he wrote.

Asked about his past position on Wednesday, Tribe was regretful, but didn’t back down.

“I wrote that piece around 15 months ago and have not thought about the issue since,” he said in a statement to RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann. “I doubt that I would reach a new conclusion upon re-examining the matter even though, given the current political circumstances, I obviously wish the situation were otherwise.”

COMMENT:  Well, well, well, now ain't that grand?  If Tribe is correct, it would take 51 votes in the Senate to confirm.  That means the Dems would have to convince one Republican to vote with them, and that assumes that every Dem is kept in line.

Big trouble there.   If Biden appoints a reasonably sane person, some Republicans may be inclined to vote for her, to prevent an even greater national divide.  But Biden is under pressure to name a hard leftist, someone acceptable to the Squad.  If he does, the 50-vote Republican mass may well stay solid, and the nomination will fail. 

Real drama.  Real world.  High stakes.

January 27, 2022