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此舉等同於為我大川普皇帝道統掃除連任障礙鋪平道路
嫘姆妮如此公開宣言等同於令參議院多數黨領袖麥康納
取得足以推動讓川普進行提名選妃之票數
CONGRESS
Romney backs vote on Supreme Court nominee, clearing way for Trump
The announcement means Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has enough votes
to move forward with Trump's pick.
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訪談影片 https://tinyurl.com/yyunsqhb
By BURGESS EVERETT
09/22/2020 09:50 AM EDT
Updated: 09/22/2020 01:06 PM EDT
Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he would support a floor vote to replace the late
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, essentially clinching consideration of President
Donald Trump’s nominee this year despite the impending election.
Just two Republican senators have asked for the party to put the brakes on the
confirmation. And with a 53-seat majority, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-
Ky.) now has the votes he needs to move forward with a nominee.
The move is a blow to Democrats’ hopes of keeping the seat vacant for the next
president, potentially their nominee, Joe Biden. But Romney said he had no
qualms about Democrats' charges of hypocrisy or about strengthening the high
court’s conservative majority.
“My liberal friends have over many decades gotten very used to the idea of
having a liberal court, but that's not written in the stars,” the Utah
Republican told reporters after this decision. He called it “appropriate for a
nation that is … center-right to have a court which reflects center-right
points of view.”
Given his criticisms of Trump and vote to remove him from office during the
impeachment trial earlier this year, there was some question about where Romney
would come down on a Supreme Court nominee. And though Romney’s position
doesn’t mean Trump’s yet-to-be-named nominee will definitely have the votes
to be confirmed, it does mean McConnell and Trump can move forward without
delay.
Trump tweeted Tuesday that he plans to announce his nominee on Saturday; Amy
Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa are seen as the top contenders.
Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee met midday Tuesday to discuss
different scenarios for how quickly they can process the nominee, but no final
decision was made. Around the same time as Trump's tweet, Republicans decided
to wait to announce their schedule until Trump makes his pick, said Sen. Josh
Hawley (R-Mo.).
GOP leaders are still mulling whether to try to fill the vacancy before the
election or wait until a lame-duck session, but the prevailing view in the
party is to move as quickly as possible.
“People are very supportive of the idea of moving forward. In terms of the
timing, that’s still up in the air,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-
S.D.). “Speaking for me personally? Yes. I think it would be a good idea for
us to move forward [before the election]. But obviously, we have a lot of
different members who might have different positions.”
Trump and some Senate allies are pushing a preelection confirmation, though
leaders are noncommittal about timing. Thune said it was McConnell’s decision.
Romney said he had no preference on timing but also no qualms about conducting
a confirmation either before or after the election.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted Tuesday that Trump'
s nominee would be confirmed before the election and said he would "keep the
process like we had it before" when asked about the length of the confirmation
hearing. It would a lightning-fast confirmation by Senate standards and occur
exceptionally close to the election.
"My sense is that he is going to wait until there's an announcement, and then
he's going to make a final decision" on timing, Hawley said.
Other potential swing votes, like Republican Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and
Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said on Monday evening they do not oppose considering
a nomination this year. Only Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins
of Maine have said the seat shouldn't be filled this close to the election, and
without Romney taking that view there’s scant possibility of keeping the seat
vacant this year.
Romney said he was merely following the law in making his decision to allow
consideration of Trump’s nominee rather than taking a position based on the
recent blockade of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick
Garland, during the 2016 election. Because the opposition party controlled the
Senate in 2016, Romney said, Democrats’ arguments about that move being unfair
did not weigh on his decision regarding Ginsburg’s replacement.
Because the president’s party controls the Senate this time around, Romney
said it was reasonable for the GOP to move forward in considering Trump’s
nominee in 2020.
“It wasn't unfair because it was consistent with history. It was consistent
with precedent, it was consistent with the Constitution,” Romney told
reporters. “That the Merrick Garland decision was unfair, and so therefore it
has to be made up by doing something which also wouldn't make a lot of sense —
which is saying to President Trump you can't get your nominee, either — that
just doesn't follow.”
Democrats took a different view. For the second day in a row, Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the floor to castigate McConnell and his
members. He read Republican quotes from 2016 defending the Garland blockade,
throwing them back in the GOP’s face four years later.
“That’s how they justified the unprecedented blockade of President Obama’s
Supreme Court nominee. No vote during a presidential year because we have to
let the people decide,” Schumer said. “Now: ‘Whoops, didn’t mean it.’”
Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.
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Filed Under: Mitt Romney, U.S. Supreme Court
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