There has been much speculation about how the Republicans might try to derail or at least extend the process of filling the Supreme court seat of Stephen Breyer, and I suggest a particular strategy to speed it along. The Senate should set the precise rules for this confirmation that were used to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, down to the last punctuation mark. If Republicans object to this, the Democrats should have only one answer:
“These are the same rules Republicans used to put Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court. Are you saying her confirmation was invalid?”
Never get into specifics about what is fair and “bipartisan”, just remind them they set the rules in that case, and if they now say they are insufficient, then Barrett should be removed from the bench. It’s a logic they can’t deny, though I’m sure they’ll try.
This strategy would have another feature that would keep Manchin and Sinema in line — it would remind them endlessly that the Republicans did not honor the filibuster on that nomination, so there is no expectation that it should be honored now. We must not allow this confirmation to take one day, one hour, even one minute longer than hers did. If we do, we perpetuate the double standard of comity from our side, aggression from theirs. We must fight this battle the way they do, because it’s for the whole game. If President Biden gets a chance to rebalance the court, he must have the same free hand they used to stack the deck against justice.