Manchin wouldn’t support SCOTUS confirmation if a vacancy opened right before 2024 election

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) told reporters on Monday he would not support a confirmation hearing for a SCOTUS nominee in the event a spot on the bench were to open up right before the 2024 election.

Manchin, who is currently a key vote in the evenly-divided US Senate, says it would be hypocritical to support the confirmation of a SCOTUS nominee right before the general election since he did not support the GOP rushing the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020.

Manchin did not vote for Coney Barrett’s confirmation in 2020, and would not support the Democrats rushing a confirmation hearing for a Biden pick before the election in the same situation.

Manchin said he would prefer to see who the American people vote into the White House in 2024 before appointing a new SCOTUS judge to the bench. “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,” he said. 

The Senate is gearing up for an upcoming confirmation hearing when President Biden names his nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced recently he will retire this year. Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman for the seat.