Liberal Harvard Law School professor emeritus Laurence Tribe is holding to his position, first voiced during the Trump administration, that a vice president cannot cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee.
In September 2020, Tribe authored an opinion piece for the Boston Globe arguing that then-Vice President Mike Pence did not have the constitutional authority in his role as president of the Senate to break a tie to confirm a Supreme Court nominee.
"While the vice president has the power to cast a tiebreaking vote to pass a bill, the Constitution does not give him the power to break ties when it comes to the Senate's 'Advice and Consent' role in approving presidential appointments to the Supreme Court," the constitutional scholar wrote.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine could vote against a nominee who was too conservative.
The Senate is now evenly split between the political parties, making the possibility of Vice President Kamala Harris' vote being needed to break a tie seemingly more likely.
Murkowski faces re-election in November, so she may vote against a Biden nominee with a far-left judicial philosophy, especially if her vote does not sway the final outcome.
In all likelihood, Harris' vote will not be needed and Tribe won't have to issue a last-minute reversal on whether a VP can break a confirmation vote tie.
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Kamala doesn't have power to break a tie for Biden's SCOTUS nominee
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