Utah Republican senator Mitt Romney said Tuesday he will support a floor vote for President Trump’s nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week at the age of 87.
Sen. Mitt Romney: “My liberal friends have, over many decades, gotten very used to the idea of having a liberal court. And that’s not written in the stars.”
Romney’s announcement means Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has the support of 51 Republican senators — enough to rapidly push forward with a vote on Justice Ginsburg’s replacement.
There are just 41 days remaining before the November election. In 2016, McConnell refused to hold confirmation hearings for President Obama’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died nearly nine months before the election. At the time, McConnell said, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice.”