Vice President Joe Biden weighed into the Supreme Court nomination conversation for Antonin Scalia’s replacement and said President Obama should work with Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley to come up with a consensus pick.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Thursday, Biden said, “The Senate does have a right to have a say in who and what the philosophy of the nominee is. But they only get to dispose. The president proposes.”
Biden then told a story about the time he was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the tenure of Ronald Reagan.
Biden said, “When [Robert] Bork was defeated and then [Douglas H.] Ginsburg pulled out, I was Chairman and Ronald Reagan called me down to the Oval Office and Howard Baker was then his Chief of Staff. So the three of us sat in the Oval and he sat down, he was gregarious and said, ‘Well, okay Joe, who do you want?’ And I said Mr. President, and I said, ‘[Your job] is to propose and mine is to dispose.’ And I said, ‘You tell me who you have in mind and I’ll give you an honest answer what their chances are in my view.'”
“So then [Reagan] read off to me the potential nominees he had in mind. And with Howard there, I told him ‘Mr. President,’ I said, ‘I think that person will suffer the same fate as Bork.’ This person, ‘I think wold probably get nominated. That person would.’ And you know that’s part of the advise and consent process,” Biden argued.
Maddow followed up, “Should president Obama do that with Senator [Chuck] Grassley [current chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee]?”
“Yes,” Biden said.
“Do you think he will,” Maddow asked.
“Yes,” Biden said. “I’m confident [Obama] will reach out to the Senate and go through the process of advise and consent.”