President Donald Trump will nominate a replacement for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Friday or Saturday.
In an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Fox News, Trump said his shortlist of nominees, all women, was down to five. The pick would come later this week after services are held for Ginsburg, the president said.
Ginsburg died last Friday evening at the age of 87. Her dying wish, according to NBC News and NPR, was that she not be replaced until a new president is installed.
But the president has said it’s his “obligation” to name a potential replacement “without delay,” noting a nominee could come later this week.
Trump told Fox News that the Senate vote “should go very quickly” and come “before the election.”
“The bottom line is we won the election, we have an obligation to do what’s right and act as quickly as possible,” Trump said.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, who were previously on the president’s list of potential nominees, said on Sunday that Republicans had a mandate from the American people to nominate and confirm constitutionalist judges — even just 43 days before an election, four years after the GOP blocked former President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland.
Trump noted that the naming of a replacement would come after services for Ginsburg.
“I think it will be on Friday or Saturday and we want to pay respect, it looks like we will have services on Thursday or Friday, as I understand it, and I think we should, with all due respect for Justice Ginsburg, wait for services to be over,” he said.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are the only Republicans to publicly declare opposition to voting on Trump’s nominee before Election Day.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Trump’s nominee will see a vote on the Senate floor, can only afford to lose the support of three senators.
___
© 2020 MassLive.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
