Has Anyone Checked with Manchin and Sinema?

Two Democrats Key to Appointment of a Black Woman on the Supreme Court

Sherrilyn Ifill is well qualified to serve as a United States Supreme Court Justice, but does she have the right stuff to be confirmed by the senate. Photo By U S Congress, Office of Terri Sewell

Now that Justice Stephen Breyer has officially announced his retirement from the United States Supreme Court, Democrats are delighted that President Joe Biden will make good on his campaign promise to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Biden made this pledge during a 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate in South Carolina. Many political pundits credit this promise as the key to Biden receiving the Democratic nomination. Ultimately, Biden won the General Election campaign against an incumbent President, whose name will go unmentioned in this piece, suffice it to say, the incumbent made presidential history because he was impeached twice during one presidential term.

Democrats are ecstatic over the opportunity to appoint a member of the highest court in the land after Sen. Mitch McConnell obstructed President Barrack Obama’s chance to nominate a member to the court in his second term as President.

But not so fast; Democrats must hold their horses. Once a Supreme Court nominee advances from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the nominee must secure 51 votes from the 100-member senate. There are 50 Republican senators and 48 Democrats. There are two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats.

For all intents and purposes, the Senate is divided 50–50. Under Senate rules, if a vote ends in a fifty-fifty tie, the President of the Senate casts the deciding vote, therefore, the Vice President of the United States. In this instance, Vice President Kamala Harris.

So far, so good, but the problem is the two democratic wildcards, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia).

Two weeks before Breyer’s announcement to step down when the Senate has confirmed a replacement, Sinema and Manchin thwarted efforts to pass voting rights legislation designed to protect the rights of Blacks and other colored minorities to vote in local, state, and federal elections.

Sinema and Manchin professed to support two bills pending in Congress at that time to have fair and equitable elections throughout the country. When push came to shove, both sat on their thumbs. Sinema added insult to injury when she…