With President Trump planning to nominate his third Supreme Court justice nominee this week, key Republican senators are indicating their stance on replacing the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with less than 50 days until Election Day.
The state of play: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has vowed that "Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate." Two GOP senators — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) — have said they oppose holding a vote before the election, meaning that two more defections would force McConnell to delay until at least the lame-duck session of Congress....
What they're saying:
- Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (S.C.) tweeted Saturday that he would support Trump "in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg." That was despite him opposing confirming then-President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, because it was an election year. In a letter to his Democratic colleagues on Monday, Graham added that he now has a "different view" of the judicial confirmation process "after the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh" during his 2018 confirmation fight.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) told reporters in July he would not have a hearing on a nominee if an election-year vacancy occurred while he was Judiciary Committee chair, a position he gave up in 2018. But he said in a statement Monday that he will not oppose Graham and McConnell's decision to move forward: "The circumstances are different in 2020, where the American people elected a Republican President and Senate in 2016 and expanded the Republican Senate