Sunday shows – Biden Supreme court nominee, Russia sanctions dominate
by The Hill staff
President Biden’s pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court dominated the Sunday morning political talk shows, with multiple guests also discussing sanctions on Russia ahead of a possible invasion of Ukraine.
Additionally, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) pushed back on remarks by former President Trump, who suggested he would consider pardons for Jan. 6 rioters if reelected.
The majority of Americans who participated in a new poll want President Biden to consider “all possible nominees” following the president’s commitment to nominate a Black woman to the high court.
The ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday showed that 76 percent of Americans wanted the president to consider “all possible nominees” while just 23 percent wanted him to only consider Black women for the nomination.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Sunday that President Biden’s campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court “helped politicize the entire nomination process” as opposed to when two of his Republican predecessors, Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan, vowed to nominate women to the high court during their tenures.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday pushed back against the notion that President Biden’s vow to nominate a Black woman the Supreme Court is akin to affirmative action, saying he is in support of making U.S. institutions “look like America.”
“This is not the first time that a president has signaled what they are looking for in a nominee,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on ABC’s “This Week,” citing commitments from two former presidents, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, to appoint a woman to the court ahead of the nominations of Sandra Day O’Connor and Amy Coney Barrett, respectively.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Sunday that to suggest there is a frontrunner to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court is “unfair.”
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said on Sunday that he would keep an “open mind” when it came to President Biden’s nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, adding, however, that he doubted the nominee would be someone whom the GOP could support.
A pair of top senators said on Sunday that they are closing in on a deal on Russia sanctions amid ramped up tensions over Ukraine.
Sens. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) — the chairman and top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee — said during a joint interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” that they were on the cusp of an agreement, with the goal of finalizing the legislation early this week.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Sunday said the U.S. is looking at deterrents against Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine “the likes of which we have not looked at before,” though he stated that there is still “room and space for diplomacy.”
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that “it’s really unclear” what Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning on doing amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said there is “no question” that American lives are “going to be at stake” if conflict breaks out between Russia and Ukraine amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
“Certainly, it’s not likely, given the many other qualified candidates that we have that have expressed interest in running, so it’s very unlikely,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on ABC’s “This Week.”
