Republicans could delay, but not block Biden's Supreme Court pick if all Democrats back nominee

• If all Democrats back Biden's nominee, Republicans wouldn't be able to block confirmation.
• But Republicans could still throw up procedural speed bumps to slow down the nomination.

WASHINGTON – Republicans could delay the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer but they won’t be able to block it by themselves if all Democrats unite behind a nominee. 

Under Senate rules that GOP lawmakers changed several years ago, a simple majority is all that’s needed to approve a presidential nomination to the country’s highest court.

That means the 50 Democrats could push through Biden’s pick with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking 51st vote, a fact acknowledged by South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on the eventual nominee.

“If all Democrats hang together – which I expect they will – they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support,” he tweeted Wednesday shortly after news of Breyer’s retirement broke.

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