Senator Romney Indicates He Will Support Voting On Trump's Supreme Court Election

 

Senator Romney Indicates He Will Support Voting On Trump's Supreme Court Election

Trump plans to announce his selection to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday.

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he supports a Senate vote to confirm the Supreme Court candidate that President Donald Trump plans to announce this weekend.

"The constitution gives the president the power to nominate and the Senate the power to advise and approve candidates for the Supreme Court. Consequently, I intend to follow the constitution and precedent when considering the president's candidate. If a candidate arrives to the Senate hall, I intend to vote based on your qualifications, "Romney said in a statement.

Trump said Tuesday that he intends to announce his Supreme Court nominee on Saturday.

Trump has said he is waiting for the announcement until after the services of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who passed away last week. On Friday, Ginsburg will reside in the United States Capitol building, the first woman to do so, and a formal ceremony is expected that morning.

Democrats oppose a vote for the Senate before the election, but they have little means to derail or delay the process. All eyes were on Romney, a frequent critic of Trump who voted to impeach the president during the Senate impeachment earlier this year, as someone who could join the Democrats in blocking the vote.

Romney's announcement comes after Sen. Corey Gardner of Colorado, one of the weakest Republicans facing re-election, said Monday that he would support a Trump nomination hearing.

This means that Republicans likely have enough votes to vote to confirm the final candidate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Collins, who will be reelected in a close race, have said they are against holding the support vote before the election.

Republicans can tolerate three defections to affirm a candidate, assuming all Democrats oppose the election.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill about his decision, Romney said it made sense in 2016 that Republicans in the Senate would not vote confirming President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland because different parties control the White House and the Senate. However, Romney said that when the president and the majority in the Senate are from the same party, they have the right to proceed with the Supreme Court vote.

"The decision to go ahead now with President Trump's candidate is also down to history," Romney said. "I came to the side of the institution and the precedent while studying it. I made the decision on that basis."

When asked about a candidate's qualifications, Romney said he wanted someone "rigidly constructed" who would look at the law itself and the constitution "instead of looking up at the sky and generating ideas that they think might be more appropriate than that. law or constitution. "

"I realize that we may have a court that has a more conservative lean than it has been in the last few decades. But my liberal friends over many decades have become very used to the idea of ​​a liberal court. This is not written in the stars".

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said he was optimistic that the Republican-controlled Senate would finally confirm the candidate.

He said: "I fully believe that we will have the votes that will be there, and either before or shortly after the elections, I am sure this person will be confirmed and will be the next Supreme Court justice." .