WASHINGTON — The Democrats’ fragile hold on the Senate majority became vividly apparent Wednesday with the sudden illness of New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who won’t be back to work for at least four weeks, throwing President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court pick and lagging legislative agenda in doubt.
The 49-year-old Democrat remained hospitalized after suffering a stroke and is expected to make a full recovery. But Senate colleagues were blindsided by the news — even top-ranking leaders were reportedly unaware that Luján fell ill last Thursday, a stunning oversight. Barring any complications, he is expected to be back at work in four to six weeks, according to a senior aide granted anonymity to discuss the situation.
Without Luján’s presence, the party no longer has full day-to-day control of what has been an evenly split Senate, leaving Biden’s potential Supreme Court nomination, big priorities and even routine business at risk in the face of Republican objections.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who went to the White House later Wednesday to discuss the court nominee with Biden, spoke of the “awful, frightening” situation, but remained hopeful that Luján, one of the chamber’s youngest members, would be “back to his old self” before too long and the Senate would carry on with its business.
“All of us are rooting for him every step of the way — between now and the day he makes his return to the Senate,” Schumer said Wednesday.
The uncertainty shows just how precarious the Democrats’ hold on power in Washington really is and the limits of Biden’s ability to usher what’s left of a once-bold agenda through Congress. The president’s chance to confirm a Supreme Court nominee, a hoped-for reset for the administration and the party, could be dangerously at risk if Democrats are unable to count on their majority to overcome hardening Republican opposition.
Already, routine Senate business was being rearranged Wednesday, as the Senate Commerce Committee announced it would be postponing consideration of some of Biden’s executive branch nominees because the panel, on which Luján is a member, needs all Democrats for the votes.
More pressing, though, is the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation battle to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. Democrats have been eager to shift to the high court fight, believing it will galvanize voters at a time when Biden’s broader legislative agenda, including his sweeping Build Back Better Act and voting legislation, have collapsed.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the panel is planning to push ahead with consideration of Biden’s Supreme Court pick as soon as the president announces his nominee, expected later this month.
