Susan Collins says Supreme Court vote should be delayed until after November election
Trump says he disagrees with Collins and will 'move very quickly' to appoint a new Justice.
In a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she believes the Senate should not vote to confirm Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg‘s successor to the Supreme Court before the November presidential election.
President Donald Trump said he will make his selection “without delay,” which she acknowledged is within his “constitutional authority.”
“In order for the American people to have faith in their elected officials, we must act fairly and consistently — no matter which political party is in power,” wrote Sen. Collins.
“President Trump has the constitutional authority to make a nomination to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, and I would have no objection to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s beginning the process of reviewing his nominee’s credentials.”
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“Given the proximity of the presidential election, however, I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election,” wrote Sen. Collins.
“In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the President or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3rd,” she concluded.
“I totally disagree with her. We have an obligation. We won,” Trump said during a press conference on Saturday.
Collins is the second Senate Republican to say that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) should not hold a Supreme Court confirmation vote before Election Day.
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told The Hill in late July that it would create a “double standard” to fill a Supreme Court vacancy before 2021 and she added that she would not support doing so.
Collins famously voted to confirm then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, despite objections from Democrats and fellow Republican Sen. Murkowski. The position Collins took led to a wave of backlash in the lead up to her re-election bid this November, making it the most difficult re-election race of her Senate career.
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