GOP Is Blocking Biden Nominees, And His SCOTUS Pick Could Be Next

The Senate currently finds itself in the unusual situation of a tie – evenly split between 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. As a procedural matter, a Senate tie requires some interesting maneuvering. A power-sharing agreement must be passed to hammer out how the majority-minority dynamics will play out. Also, in theory, the vice president must be on notice to break any tie votes that occur – something that would be happening a lot more if so many Republicans weren’t happily voting for so many of Joe Biden’s nominees.

But a tied Senate also creates opportunities. As I’ve written previously, the Senate’s Rule 26 comes into play in a tied Senate in a way that would hardly matter otherwise. The rule requires that a “majority of the committee” be “physically present” to report a matter (either a bill or a nomination) out of committee. This is true regardless of what an individual committee’s rules say about minority members being present.

Normally, a single party can present a physical majority of members …

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