Republican Sen. Susan Collins, amid the toughest reelection fight of her career, would not say Friday night whether she would vote to confirm a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before Election Day.
Maine’s other senator, independent Angus King, quickly issued a statement on Twitter making clear that he does not support a nomination process before the election.
Ginsburg, 87, died Friday at her home in Washington from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. She announced in July that she was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for lesions on her liver, the latest of her several battles with cancer. One of her final wishes was not to be replaced until the inauguration of the next president in January.
Her requests, dictated to her granddaughter Clara Spera several days before she died, left little doubt: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg said.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already indicated in a statement Friday that he would push forward with whomever President Trump nominates to the post, casting aside his own precedent, set in 2016, when he refused to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland during the final nine months of President Barack Obama’s second term.
In 2018, Collins provided the pivotal vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced accusations of sexual assault during his confirmation hearing. Her support for Kavanaugh tipped the court decisively toward conservative jurists, and drew intense anger from progressives across the nation, who vowed to unseat Collins during November’s contest.
Her challenger, Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon, reaped a $3.... (Read more)
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