Sen. Joe Manchin will not support filling another Supreme Court vacancy should it arise close to the 2024 election, according to a report.
“I’m not going to be hypocritical on that,” the West Virginia Democrat told a reporter Monday. “If it comes a week or two weeks before, like it did with our last Supreme Court nominee, I think that’s a time it should go to the next election.”
Manchin later clarified to reporters that he was referring to a future presidential election and not the 2022 midterm elections, as he voted to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
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He previously opposed the hasty nomination and approval of Justice Amy Coney Barrett after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg‘s passing. “Rushing to confirm a Supreme Court nominee weeks before a presidential election has never been done before in the history of our nation, and it will only fan the flames of division at a time when our country is deeply divided,” he said at the time.
“I will not vote to confirm Judge Coney Barrett or any Supreme Court nominee before Election Day on Nov. 3. I urge my Republican friends to slow down, put people before politics, and give their constituents a chance to vote.”
On Monday, Manchin said, “I voted for her before as a district judge,” adding that his voting choice had to do with timing. “I just thought it was so wrong,” he said of the choice to push Barrett through so close to the 2020 presidential election.
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Manchin reportedly has no qualms with the time frame set aside for filling Justice Stephen Breyer‘s seat, however. The senator further praised possible nominees on the short list, according to a report.
