Senate showdowns galore

By Jennifer J. Foster

You know those days when you wake up in the morning and you say to yourself, “Man ... I really wish I was a U.S. senator.“

No? Really?

Um ... yeah, me either.

How many major political and policy showdowns can the Senate have on its plate at once? We already know that President Obama’s health care plan, whatever shape that’s going to take, is on its way later this year, and White House officials began paving the way two weeks ago for a massive overhaul of the immigration laws of this country that is expected either late this year or early next year.

We can now add to those earth-movers the president’s first Supreme Court nomination.

News broke last night that Justice David Souter will retire in June at the end of the Court’s current term. From CNN:

Souter, 69, was tapped for the court by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, but disappointed many conservatives when he turned out to be a typical old-fashioned Yankee Republican—a moderate, with an independent, even quirky streak.

SIDEBAR: Can’t you just see the smirk that reporter must have had on his face when he wrote that line? I can. END SIDEBAR

Anyway, since Souter is perceived to be one of the Court’s liberal members, this perhaps may not materialize as the showdown it assuredly would be if Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia was leaving the bench. Back to CNN:

Souter’s departure will leave the two oldest justices—and the most liberal—still on the bench. Retirements for John Paul Stevens, 89, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, have been rumored for years, with many expecting that one or the other would be the first to give a new Democratic president a Supreme Court vacancy.

Assuming President Obama seeks to replace Souter with a like-minded jurist, there are two schools of thought here: One is that Republicans won’t put up much of a fight, preferring instead to accept the tight balance of the Court in the short run and save their high court ammo for the possibility that Thomas or Scalia might be replaced during Obama’s term(s). The other is that, given the Senate’s near-Democratic supermajority, Republicans don’t have a whole lot of opportunities to make their case with the national media hanging on their every word, so they just might take advantage of this shot.

Of course, the president could surprise (disappoint?) everyone and choose a well-respected, honest-to-goodness moderate to replace Souter and render all this speculation moot.

I actually hope he does.