U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Monday the Senate should consider President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at age 87 of cancer.
The death has touched off a political firestorm because the Republican-controlled Senate in 2016 refused to take up Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court during an election year.
But Trump, with the backing of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has vowed to quickly nominate a replacement for Ginsburg, setting up a vote in the Senate.
Rubio said in a prepared statement Monday that Trump, who is running for re-election in November, should “exercise his duty to name a nominee. And the Senate should once again exercise its constitutional obligation and decide whether or not to consent to his choice.”
Rubio added, “I will review the record of President Trump’s nominee, and I will provide my consent if I find they are qualified and will respect the law as written. If I conclude they do not meet this standard, as I did in 2016, I will withhold consent. And unlike President Obama in 2016, President Trump is on the ballot and can be rewarded or held accountable for his choice in November.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said Friday night that he supports considering Trump’s nominee. “It would be irresponsible to allow an extended vacancy on the Supreme Court,” Scott said in a prepared statement. “I believe that President Trump’s nominee should get a vote in the U.S. Senate.”
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