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WASHINGTON: Republicans lined up behind President Donald Trump’s push to expand the conservative majority of the US Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 22), leaving Democrats with little hope of blocking a conformation vote that could happen sooner. of the elections of November 3.
Trump said he had “a very good idea” of his choice for the seat in an interview on WGN America’s NewsNation program. He told reporters earlier: “We are very close to making a final decision.”
The president has said he plans to announce his nominee on Saturday and has urged the Senate, where his fellow Republicans have a 53-47 majority, to vote before the election.
LEE: Trump will nominate a woman next week to succeed Ginsburg in the Supreme Court
Trump has named two women he named federal appeals court judges as potential nominees: Amy Coney Barrett of the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Barbara Lagoa of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Appeals of the 11th Circuit of the United States, based in Atlanta.
Trump met with Barrett at the White House on Monday and said he could meet with Lagoa in Florida later this week.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney, a rare critic of Trump among Republican senators, said he was in favor of voting on Trump’s election, giving his party enough support to pass the president’s third appointment to the court. higher.
Ginsburg’s replacement could steer the court in a more conservative direction on abortion, health care, gun rights, voting access, presidential powers and other spheres of American life.
Romney, the Republican presidential candidate who was unsuccessful in 2012, said it would be appropriate for a nation he described politically as center-right to have a Supreme Court “that reflects center-right views.”
He and other Republicans have dismissed Democratic arguments that the Senate should wait until voters decide whether to re-elect Trump or elect Democratic challenger Joe Biden in November. A Reuters / Ipsos poll released on Sunday found that most Americans, including many Republicans, also wanted the winner of the election to make the nomination.
“I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent when considering the president’s candidate,” Romney said.
READ: The Supreme Court fight after Ginsburg’s death could hurt the economy
At a campaign rally in Pittsburgh later Tuesday, Trump thanked Romney after ridiculing him for voting to convict the president during Trump’s impeachment trial in February.
“But today was great, I have to tell you. Now I’m happy. Thank you Mitt,” Trump said.
Ginsburg, a pioneering advocate for gender equality who served on the court for 27 years, died Friday at age 87.
READ: Mourners across America honor pioneer Ginsburg
Democrats accuse Republican senators of hypocrisy, noting that they refused to even consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s candidate for a vacant Supreme Court seat in 2016 because it was an election year.
Romney said that was not a concern for him, as Washington was torn between a Democratic White House and a Republican-led Senate that year, while this year Republicans control both.
Four Republicans would have to join Democrats in opposing a confirmation vote to block the nomination. Only two have taken that position.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine said the Senate should not consider a candidate this year. Two Republican senators who had been the subject of some speculation about his position, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, also made it clear that they support moving forward with the confirmation process.
There is enough support among Senate Republicans to hold a vote on the candidate before Nov. 3, according to two Republican aides who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“THE INSTITUTION OF THE SENATE”
House Democrat Chuck Schumer said the Supreme Court vote “now could well destroy the institution of the Senate.” Schumer took steps to prevent Senate committees from doing business Tuesday afternoon in a token protest.
Public events of mourning for Ginsburg will be held in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday and on Capitol Hill on Friday.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said he had spoken to Trump about Lagoa. Scott said electing the Cuban-American judge would help Trump in elections in states with large numbers of Latinos, including Florida, which is critical. Trump follows Biden in national opinion polls before the election.
Barrett is the darling of conservative Christians, a key electorate for Trump.
Democrats have few, if any, options to avoid a vote.
Top congressional Democrats have downplayed possibilities like holding a second impeachment vote, withholding government funds that expire Sept. 30, or boycotting committee hearings.
“I’ve been around for a few years. You can slow things down, but you can’t stop them,” Dick Durbin, the second Senate Democrat 2, told reporters.
The Senate could also vote in a futile session after the election before a new Congress is sworn in on January 3.
