Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) released a statement on Saturday explaining why she believes the Senate should not vote on a nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg until after the election.
Collins, who provided the deciding vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, admonished her Republican colleagues in the Senate to refrain from voting on a nominee to replace Ginsburg because her vacancy fell in the weeks before a presidential election.
My statement on the Supreme Court vacancy: pic.twitter.com/jvYyDN5gG4
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) September 19, 2020
Collins’ statement reads:
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. 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.
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 of a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3rd.
“I totally disagree with her,” President Donald Trump said in response to Collins’ statement. “We won, and we have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want. That’s not the next president. Hopefully I’ll be the next president. But we’re here now, right now we’re here, and we have an obligation to the voters—all of the people, the millions of people that put us here in the form of a victory—we have an obligation to them, to all of those voters, and it’s a very simple thing. So I would disagree, if that’s what she said. That’s not the way I read it. I read it differently, but if that’s what she said, I totally disagree.”
Trump dismisses Susan Collins saying she thinks the next president should pick RBG's replacement: "We won and we have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want … we're here right. Right now, we're here." pic.twitter.com/q4Y7mDXfaN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 19, 2020
Collins echoed the sentiment expressed by former President Barack Obama, who urged Republicans on Friday to hold Ginsburg’s seat open until after the election, citing a precedent he claims they set when they blocked his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Former President Barack Obama issued a statement on Friday regarding the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that called on Republicans to keep her seat open until after the election.
Citing the precedent he claims Republicans set in 2016 by blocking his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Obama said “everyday fairness” requires the Republican-controlled Senate to refuse installing a new Supreme Court justice during a presidential election year.
Despite opposition, Trump tweeted his intention to fill Ginsburg’s seat immediately, tweeting Saturday at the GOP, “We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!”
.@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2020
Related: ‘Everyday Fairness’: Obama Calls On Republicans To Leave RBG’s Seat Open Until After Election