Dem
51
GOP
49
To get even with the Democrats for convicting Dear Leader (at least in their view), eight Republican senators have vowed to oppose all of Joe Biden's nominees and all of his legislation. If they are serious, they could completely clog up the Senate so it can't do anything. A lot of routine stuff is done by unanimous consent. But if even one senator objects, everything has to go through regular order, which has many opportunities for slowing things down or blocking them altogether. The blockade can affect appointments in many departments, some of them not really controversial (like U.S. Marshals).
The eight Republican senators are Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mike Lee (UT), Roger Marshall (KS), Marco Rubio (FL), Eric Schmitt (MO), Rick Scott (FL), Tommy Tuberville (AL) and J.D. Vance (OH). Rubio and Vance are believed to be on Trump's short list of possible veeps, although Rubio is problematic because he lives in Florida and so does Trump. One of them would have to move to make that work.
Typical of what these senators are saying is what Roger Marshall said: "Joe Biden and his army of partisan hack judges have weaponized our judicial system against his political opponent. Words are not enough. Call on your Senator to join our fight. We will block every single Biden judicial nomination until America votes on November 5th." Does he mean it? Maybe someone should point out that if he does this, there will be nothing to stop the Democrats from blocking everything a President Trump will want to do. The only difference is that Trump will then appoint acting nominees, bypassing the Senate, let them take action, and hope the Supreme Court will uphold this arrangement.
This new stance is a reversal of what some of the recalcitrant senators have just done. Rubio and Scott, for example, recently returned the "blue slips," approving Biden's picks for U.S. District judges in Florida. (V)