Sen. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican facing a tough re-election bid, said Monday he looks forward to President Barack Obama submitting a Supreme Court nominee to the Senate, in a break from other Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“I fully expect and look forward to President Barack Obama advancing a nominee for the Senate to consider,” Kirk wrote in an op-ed in The Chicago Sun-Times. “I also recognize my duty as a senator to either vote in support or opposition to that nominee following a fair and thorough hearing along with a complete and transparent release of all requested information.”
Kirk’s stance gave an indication of some of the challenges McConnell faces as they prepare for a showdown with the White House over filling the vacancy left on the Supreme Court by Antonin Scalia.
Monday marked the first day the Senate returned since Scalia died, a little more than a week ago.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was set to deliver a floor speech Monday, teeing off the Supreme Court nomination battle that is engulfing the Senate.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley arrived at his office Monday, but an aide said he would not talk about his deliberations. The Grassley aide said there will be a special meeting of Republicans members of the Judiciary Committee Tuesday to discuss this Supreme Court situation.
A McConnell aide said that the meeting will meet in the Capitol shortly before Republicans host their Tuesday lunch. Senate Republican leaders are also set to hold their regular meeting Monday afternoon.
McConnell has dug in, saying that no nominee would even receive a vote in the Senate. But Grassley has left the door open to holding hearings on an Obama nominee.
Meanwhile, Reid met with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval Monday in his office, aides told CNN.
Sandoval, a moderate Republican and a former federal judge, was in town for a meeting of the National Governors Association. They discussed Sandoval’s interest in a nomination, and sources familiar with the discussion say Sandoval is interested in the nomination, but Reid is not pushing the idea on him.
The political wrangling extends beyond just control of the high court, but also potentially of the Senate. Republicans hold a 54-46 seat advantage over Democrats, but Democrats would have to pick up at least four seats to win back control (assuming they keep the White House in November.) A fight over whether or not to hold a vote on an Obama nominee will likely play a role in those Senate campaigns.
Democrats have targeted vulnerable Republican incumbents in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Senior Democratic officials have told CNN the only way Obama wins a nomination battle is if Republicans in swing states break rank — including Kirk and Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Conversely, Senate Republicans have said that if it looks like the White House may stay in Democratic hands, they could rally conservatives.
The dynamic has already proved tricky for one of the more moderate members of the Senate Republican Conference, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. She initially said that Obama’s nominee should receive a hearing, but later said Obama should hold off picking a nominee.
But some Democrats have their own concerns.
Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat, told CNN that Democrats shouldn’t tie up the floor in retaliation to a Republican blockade on a nominee.
“They know how I feel,” he said of his party’s leaders, adding that he believes there should be hearings and votes for the eventual nominee. “Let the President do his job.”
Manchin — who is anti-abortion rights — said the issue wouldn’t be the determinative factor on whether he would support the eventual nominee. He said while he hopes Obama picks a “centrist” nominee, “I’m not a one-issue person.”
