GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski Signals Possible Support for Trump Nominee
TTN Staff
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) initially stated that she would not support a vote on Trump’s eventual nominee to replace the late-Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Now, Murkowski is changing her tune and signaling that she will not rule out a yes vote to confirm an eventual Trump nominee.
According to Alaska Public Media:
If Democrats were counting on Lisa Murkowski to vote against President Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court, they should think again.
Sen. Murkowski said Tuesday she could not rule out that she would vote to confirm a Trump nominee if the Judiciary Committee approves one before the November election.
“I know everybody wants to ask the question, ‘will you confirm the nominee?’” she said outside the Capitol, as her Republican colleagues were gathering for their weekly policy lunch. “We don’t have a nominee yet. You and I don’t know who that is. And so I can’t confirm whether or not I can confirm a nominee when I don’t know who the nominee is.”
Sen. Mitt Romney took a similar position Tuesday, so it looks nearly impossible for Democrats to block Trump from seating his third Supreme Court justice.
Murkowski still opposes the process moving forward but stated, “now, having said that, this process is moving forward with or without me.”
Swing Senators Lamar Alexander (Tenn), Pat Toomey (Pa.), and Cory Gardner (Colo.) all have given their support to the move to fill the seat.
Romney followed on Tuesday, and now Murkowski is following as well. [RELATED: Romney Makes his Decision]
That means the GOP has the votes but as Fox News reported Nancy Pelosi is panicking:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday would not rule out impeachment as an option to stop President Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court pick from being confirmed to the bench, saying Democrats will “use every arrow in our quiver” to block the eventual nominee.
The lone GOP Senator still openly opposing a nomination moving forward is Susan Collins of Maine. However, Collins is in a tough fight in Maine, which is a state with politics no one can really explain, so many say she gets a pass.