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Manchin, who often clashes with his own party, told reporters
his view was consistent with his view when Republican President
Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court a
little over a month before the 2020 presidential election.
Manchin voted against Barrett's confirmation, though he said he
had supported her nominations for a previous post. He added it
would be "hypocritical" for him to support a similar move by
Biden.
Manchin has emerged as a key vote in the evenly divided Senate,
willing to buck Biden and the Democratic party by opposing
nominees and legislation, including Biden's priority social
spending bill.
Biden is expected to name his first pick for a Supreme Court
seat at the end of the month, after Justice Stephen Breyer
announced his retirement. Biden has pledged to nominate a Black
woman to the seat.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who could return to
power as majority leader in that chamber if Republicans win in
the 2022 midterm elections that decide control of Congress, has
said he would block any Supreme Court confirmations if a vacancy
opened up before the 2024 presidential election.
He also was noncommittal when asked, in the same interview with
radio host Hugh Hewitt, if he would allow a confirmation vote in
2023 if Republicans held the Senate majority.
In 2016, when Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia died during
then-President Barack Obama's term, Senate Republicans refused
to consider Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, who now serves as
the attorney general.
The move held little precedent in U.S. history, but cleared the
way for Trump to nominate Neil Gorsuch to the seat, the first of
three justices he named to the Supreme Court, giving it a 6-3
conservative majority.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Mary Milliken and Stephen
Coates)
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