Adding another Democratic vote in the meantime would only serve to allow Democrats to “force through their very worst nominees,” McConnell said.
“The supposed emergency is the Senate Democrats are unable to push through the small fraction of their nominees who are so extreme, so extreme and so unqualified, that they cannot win a single Republican vote in committee,” McConnell said.
When Barack Obama was president and McConnell the Senate majority leader, McConnell blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016 to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, denying the nominee a hearing. McConnell also refused to confirm other Obama judicial nominees, leaving dozens of vacancies that Donald Trump was able to fill when he became president.
Most committee assignments for both Republicans and Democrats are passed without fanfare or controversy by unanimous voice votes on the Senate floor.
But replacing Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee would take 60 votes to approve given GOP objections. This means at least 10 Republicans would need to back the measure — a number that appeared out of reach even before McConnell delivered his first public remarks on the issue on Tuesday.
Several other Republicans voiced similar objections Monday. The comments from McConnell, who returned to the Senate this week after an absence due to a fall, effectively closed the door on any possibility that Feinstein would be temporarily replaced on the panel.
Feinstein, who at 89 is the oldest member of the Senate, announced last week that she had asked Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to temporarily replace her on the committee while she continues to work from home. Senators are not allowed to vote remotely.
That followed calls from some congressional Democrats for Feinstein, who has been absent from the chamber since February and has provided no return date, to resign from the Senate entirely.
Her absence has stalled confirmations of some of Biden’s nominees, given that only judges with some Republican support can move to the floor without her tiebreaking vote on the committee.
Not all Democrats are on board with finding a replacement for Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told CNN on Tuesday that he doesn’t support the move and blasted fellow Democrats who have called for her resignation.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “She was elected. … We’ve had other members gone for a year or more at times, and no one called for their resignation.”
In his remarks, McConnell stressed that he holds Feinstein in high regard, calling her “a titanic figure” and “a stateswoman,” and said that he and his wife consider her a personal friend.
“We miss our colleague,” he said. “We wish her the very best for a speedy recovery.”
McConnell also pushed back on the contention by Democrats that her absence has “ground the Judiciary Committee to a halt.”
“So far this Congress, the committee has reported out more than 50 nominees, more than half on a bipartisan basis,” McConnell said.
