Durbin says court nomination process ‘the reason I ran the first time for office’

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (Ill.), also the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told The Washington Post in an interview published on Monday that the Supreme Court nomination process is why he initially ran for office and added he was excited about the opportunity to make history.

“I want to be smack dab in the middle of, as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, the actions and passions of our time, and I couldn’t ask for a better seat than to be chair of Judiciary filling a Supreme Court vacancy,” he told the newspaper.

President Biden has vowed to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Durbin told the Post that while being part of the process to confirm any Supreme Court justice would be an honor, it “means a lot to me” to be “making history in the process.”

He also told the newspaper former Illinois Democratic Sens. Paul H. Douglas and Paul Simon “did everything they could in their Senate careers to advance civil rights in America.”

“Joe Biden’s going to do that with this appointment, and I’m going to help him,” he added to the Post.

Durbin said he was making an effort to make sure the Supreme Court nomination process was bipartisan, making calls to Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Both senators told the newspaper they view the outreach positively.

“It’s clear to me that Senator Durbin wants to do this the right way,” Collins told the Post. “He wants to give full access to the nominee. He wants to provide all the relevant documents. He wants to hold a hearing that is fair and give us ample opportunity to ask questions. … I have a lot of confidence in him.”

Grassley told the Post their communication was “a very positive start.”

Names reportedly under consideration for the seat include South Carolina federal trial Judge J. Michelle Childs, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki last week said that the president would not be swayed by lobbying groups or lawmakers in making his nomination.

The Hill has reached out to the offices of Durbin and Grassley for comment.