Democrats Are Baffled by Joe Manchin’s Judicial Nominee Vow

The retiring senator said he would oppose judicial nominees unless they have bipartisan support, potentially putting some at risk.

Joe Manchin
“I want to exercise everything I can to try to make them understand how important it is for this place to have some bipartisanship,” Sen. Joe Manchin said. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Some Democrats are mystified that one of their own would oppose President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees simply because of Republican opposition.

“It’s gonna delay justice in many of our courts across the country,” Sen. Laphonza Butler said Thursday of Sen. Joe Manchin’s promise to oppose judicial nominees without a Republican backer. “So yeah, I am concerned about it.”

Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin said “of course” Manchin’s plan could pose a problem.