Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has shed all doubt on whether he will confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. In a statement on Thursday, the former presidential candidate once again confirmed that he will vote yes in favor of Barrett’s nomination.
“After meeting with Judge Barrett and carefully reviewing her record and her testimony, I intend to vote in favor of her confirmation to the Supreme Court,” Romney said. “She is impressive, and her distinguished legal and academic credentials make it clear that she is exceptionally well qualified to serve as our next Supreme Court justice.”
“I am confident that she will faithfully apply the law and our Constitution, impartially and regardless of policy preferences,” he added.
Neither Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) nor Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have confirmed that they will vote no on Barrett’s nomination, as reported by Fox News. For his part, Romney has been consistent on his position since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in late September.
“My decision regarding a Supreme Court nomination is not the result of a subjective test of ‘fairness’ which, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder,” Romney said. “It is based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the Constitution and precedent. The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own.”
“The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate and the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent on Supreme Court nominees,” he continued. “Accordingly, I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) confirmed on Thursday that the GOP has the votes to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court.
“She’ll come out of committee next Thursday … and we’ll go to the floor with her on Friday the 23rd and stay on it until we finish,” McConnell told reporters, as reported by The Hill.
“We have the votes,” he added.
Though Mitt Romney will vote for President Trump’s SCOTUS nominee, he has not dialed-down his critiques of the president in the lead up to the November election. In a statement on Tuesday, Romney excoriated the president and the Democrats for practicing a mean-spirited brand of politics.
“I have stayed quiet with the approach of the election. But I’m troubled by our politics, as it has moved away from spirited debate to a vile, vituperative, hate-filled morass that is unbecoming of any free nation — let alone the birthplace of modern democracy,” he wrote. “The president calls the Democrat vice-presidential candidate ‘a monster’; he repeatedly labels the speaker of the house ‘crazy’; he calls for the Justice Department to put the prior president in jail; he attacks the governor of Michigan on the very day a plot is discovered to kidnap her.”