VP Biden Defends Sen. Biden’s Stand on Supreme Court Vacancies

Vice President Joe Biden tried again to walk back his past objections to confirming any Supreme Court nominees five months before the 1992 presidential election. Those remarks, he argued, are irrelevant to the current Supreme Court controversy. Speaking at Georgetown Law School, Biden argued Thursday that he never advocated blocking any of President George H.W. Bush’s potential nominees altogether. Instead, he opposed “nomination of an extreme candidate without proper Senate consultation.” “I made it absolutely clear that I would go forward with the confirmation process as [Senate Judiciary Committee] chairman,” Biden said referring to a floor speech he made in June 1992, “ … if the nominee were chosen with the advice and not merely the consent of the Senate, just as the Constitution requires.” More...