In a statement released Saturday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said that whoever wins the presidential election should nominate the next Supreme Court justice.
After explaining that President Trump fully has the authority to nominate someone to the vacancy, and saying she would have no objection to the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewing said nominee’s credentials, Collins said, “given the proximity of the presidential election, however, I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election.”
“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 added.
President Donald Trump on Saturday urged the Republican-controlled Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just six weeks before the election.
Collins is the first Senate Republican to say that there should not be a vote on a Supreme Court nominee before Election Day since the death of Justice Ginsburg.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said that she “would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee” in an interview with Alaska Public Media Friday, shortly before the announcement of Ginsburg’s passing.
Collins, a key centrist Republican voice in the Senate, is facing a tough re-election battle against Democrat Sara Gideon, the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. Collins was a key vote in confirming Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018.
