Joe Biden and the Supreme Court Nomination Process
Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Collin Levy argues that Vice President Joe Biden will be in no position to complain if the Republicans try to derail President Barack Obama's forthcoming Supreme Court nominee. In addition to Biden's famous part in the Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas confirmation battles, Levy points out that
Under Mr. Biden's leadership, holding up nominations to the nation's appeals courts also became a routine exercise. In 1988, the Senate Judiciary Committee delayed 17 months before refusing to confirm law professor and scholar Bernard Siegan to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals because of his libertarian positions on economic issues. In 1992, Mr. Bush's nominee to the 11th Circuit, Edward Carnes, endured an eight-month delay and an attempted filibuster before finally being confirmed. By 1992, 64 judicial nominees were stuck in the senatorial muck waiting for the Judiciary Committee to give them a yea or nay.
Whole thing here. Earlier this month I discussed Biden's part in previous confirmation fights, including his attempt to discredit Clarence Thomas as a crazy libertarian follower of Richard Epstein.