GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski Says She Opposes Taking Up Supreme Court Vote Before the Election

Josh FeldmanSep 20th, 2020, 12:28 pm
 

Senator Lisa Murkowski confirmed in a statement Sunday that she opposes taking up a Supreme Court vote before the election.

Following the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the talk about when the Senate would hold a vote, there’s been some question of whether there would be enough Republicans opposed to voting in whoever President Donald Trump nominates prior to November 3rd.

Susan Collins said in her statement Saturday the decision of who appoints the next Supreme Court justice should be decided by the election.

Now Murkowski has joined in in reemphasizing her position — one made a few days ago, prior to Ginsburg’s passing — that she opposes “taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election.”

“My position has not changed,” Murkowski says in a new statement. “I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election — less than two months out — and I believe the same standard must apply.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham — who openly said four years ago “if there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination, and you can use my words against me, and you’d be absolutely right” — has indicated in the past few days he supports taking up Trump’s nominee:

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Josh Feldman - Senior Editor

Josh Feldman is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Email him here: josh@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter: @feldmaniac