Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Photo
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Photo
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
(Washington) — Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, says he will support moving forward with President Trump’s upcoming election year nomination to the Supreme Court.
Romney issued a statement Tuesday that he intends “to follow the constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee, and if the nominee reaches the Senate floor he intends “to vote based upon their qualifications.”
Romney’s support for moving ahead means that Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell is all but certain to have the 51 votes he needs to take up the nomination. Just two GOP Senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have said they oppose taking up the president’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a presidential election year.
Jon Cherry / Getty Images
A group of protesters rally in front of Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) home on September 19, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. McConnell has said that if President Donald Trump nominates someone to take the place of Ginsburg following her death, the Senate would proceed with the nomination process despite the presidential election being less than six weeks away.
Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee, has been one of the few Republicans in the Senate to oppose Trump. In his statement, he asserted that the “historical precedent” of election year nominations is that the Senate “generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its’ own.”
Democrats have charged that because the Senate refused to take up President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to fill a vacancy in 2016, GOP moves to take up Ginsburg’s successor amounts to hypocrisy.
Romney told reporters he wasn’t “going to get into the particulars” of whether he would support voting for Trump’s nominee in a lame-duck session, or if Democratic nominee Joe Biden defeats Trump on election day.
“I’ve indicated that what I intend to do, is to proceed with the consideration process and if a nominee actually reaches the floor, then I will vote based upon the qualifications of that nominee,” he said.
McConnell has not outlined a timetable for taking up Trump’s nominee.
Trump says he will announce his choice on Saturday.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
