NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – President Donald Trump signaled Saturday that he was moving ahead with nominating a new Supreme Court justice, who he said would "most likely" be a woman, as Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the Senate should wait until after the 2020 Election to vote on a nominee.
Collins, who is in a tough reelection battle in Maine, released a statement in which she said she believed replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg should be the decision of the president who is elected Nov. 3.
"In order for the American people to have faith in their elected officials, we must act fairly and consistently — no matter which political party is in power," Collins said. "President Trump has the constitutional authority to make a nomination to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, and I would have no objection to the Senate Judiciary Committee's beginning the process of reviewing his nominee's credentials."
"Given the proximity of the presidential election, however, I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election. In fairness to the American people, who will either be reelecting the President or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3rd."
Three more defections from the GOP ranks would be needed to stop Trump's nominee from joining the court.
Trump said Saturday that a pick would probably come in the next week and would "most likely" be a woman. The president, who tweeted earlier that the nomination should be taken up "without delay," rejected Collins' view as he departed for a rally in North Carolina.
"We won and we have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want. That's not the next president," he told reporters as he left the White House. "Hopefully I'll be the next president. But, we're here now, right now, we're here, and we have an obligation to the voters, all of the people, the millions of people that put us here in the form of a victory, we have an obligation to them, to all of those voters."
A close ally, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings on a nominee, tweeted that he backed Trump "in any effort to move forward" and fill the vacancy.
And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed on Friday night, hours after Ginsburg's death, to call a vote for Trump's upcoming nominee.
Democrats countered that Republicans should follow the precedent that GOP legislators set in 2016 by refusing to consider a Supreme Court choice in the run-up to an election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
