华盛顿——在民主党人抱怨他们的观点随着政治现实的变化而改变的情况下，正在考虑如何处理最高法院空缺的共和党参议员们面临着关于他们自己过去言论的问题。

总统唐纳德·特朗普周六，他敦促共和党控制的参议院“毫不拖延地”考虑他即将到来的提名，以填补周五去世的大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格空出的席位。这一举动发生在选举。

看看关键的共和党参议员过去和现在都在说些什么，关于在选举期间填补最高法院的一个席位选举一年。

参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔

肯塔基州共和党人麦康奈尔(McConnell)周五晚上在金斯堡去世几小时后的一份声明中誓言，将对特朗普的提名进行自由投票，尽管他没有具体说明日期。设定参议院日程的麦康奈尔将司法任命作为重中之重。

麦康奈尔关于最新空缺的声明与他在2016年采取的立场形成鲜明对比，当时他拒绝在选举前几个月考虑巴拉克·奥巴马总统对高等法院的选择。麦康奈尔阻止了联邦上诉法院法官梅里克·加兰的听证会，称这一选择应在选举年留给选民。

民主党人表示，共和党人应该遵循他们在2016年开创的先例，在选举前不考虑最高法院的选择，但麦康奈尔的言论清楚地表明，他无意这样做。

“美国人在2016年重新选举了我们的多数派，并在2018年扩大了多数派，因为我们承诺与特朗普总统合作，支持他的议程，特别是他对联邦司法机构的杰出任命。麦康奈尔说:“我们将再次信守承诺。”。

参议院司法委员会主席林赛·格雷厄姆

格雷厄姆将监督司法委员会主席提名的审查，他周六在推特上表示，他将支持特朗普“为解决金斯伯格法官去世造成的近期空缺做出任何努力”。

格雷厄姆的评论与他在2018年和2016年的声明相矛盾，他在声明中表示，在选举年不应考虑最高法院提名人。

格雷厄姆2018年在《大西洋》杂志主办的一次活动中表示:“如果特朗普总统任期的最后一年出现空缺，并且初选进程已经开始，我们将等待下一次选举。”格雷厄姆提醒说，他是在公开场合发言，他说:“是的。抓住带子。“

两年前，在加兰战役中，这位南卡罗来纳州参议员更加强调，敦促司法委员会会议上的听众“用我的话来反对我”。如果2016年有一位共和党总统(当选)，而第一个任期的最后一年出现空缺，你可以说林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)说，“让下一任总统，不管是谁，提名吧。”"

尽管有这些评论，格雷厄姆周六表示，他支持推进新的提名，因为民主党人在奥巴马任期内改变了参议院规则，以确认更多的巡回法院法官，而且因为参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)“和他在自由媒体领域的朋友们密谋破坏布雷特·卡瓦诺(Brett Kavanaugh)的生活，并使最高法院的席位保持开放。”

2018年，经过激烈的党派斗争，卡瓦纳以微弱优势被最高法院确认，格雷厄姆在推动卡瓦纳方面发挥了关键作用。

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS

缅因州共和党人柯林斯被认为是温和派，他周六表示，“为了公平对待美国人民”，参议院应该在选举后才对最高法院的终身任命进行投票，提名“应该由11月3日当选的总统做出”。

柯林斯在2018年投票支持卡瓦诺——这一投票在她连任竞选中发挥了关键作用。自由派团体以柯林斯对卡瓦诺的支持为目标，她在公开发布的民意调查中落后于她的民主党对手。她的声明似乎表明，如果特朗普赢得第二个任期，她有可能在选举后的“跛脚鸭”会议上支持特朗普的提名人。

参议员CHUCK GRASSLEY

爱荷华州共和党人格拉斯利(Grassley)在2016年遭到民主党人的谴责，当时他作为司法委员会主席，阻止了加兰的确认听证会。加兰是在安东宁·斯卡利亚(Antonin Scalia)法官于2016年2月意外去世后被提名到高等法院的。

当时，格拉斯利引用了“拜登规则”来阻碍这一进程。这一非正式的“规则”——参议院从未在任何正式意义上采用——源于时任参议员乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在1992年的一次演讲，他说参议院在总统选举后才应该填补最高法院的空缺。拜登曾担任奥巴马的副总统，现在是民主党总统候选人。

最近，格拉斯利在7月告诉记者，如果他仍然担任司法机构主席，并且出现空缺，“我不会就此举行听证会，因为这是我在2016年向人们承诺的。”

格拉斯利周五晚上发表声明赞扬金斯伯格，但没有评论特朗普是否应该提出继任者。

JONI·恩斯特参议员

恩斯特是爱荷华州共和党人，今年将竞选连任，他是司法委员会的成员。她在7月份表示，如果最高法院出现空缺，参议院应该就特朗普的提名人举行听证会，即使他在11月的总统选举中失败。

恩斯特的竞选团队周五晚上发出了一封筹款电子邮件，称:“我们的保守价值观和宪法权利现在岌岌可危。下一任最高法院提名人将决定未来几十年的重大决策。”

恩斯特周五晚些时候发表声明称，该邮件“永远不应该发出去”

“虽然我从未见过它，但它是以我的名义发出的，我对此负责，”恩斯特说。"今晚，我为金斯堡法官的家人祈祷."

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI

阿拉斯加共和党人穆尔科斯基反对卡瓦诺的确认，她在金斯堡去世前几小时接受采访时说，在下一任总统就职之前，她“不会投票确认”她的继任者。

她周五对阿拉斯加公共电台的评论也发生在麦康奈尔说参议院将投票选举特朗普的提名人取代金斯伯格之前。穆尔科斯基的评论似乎让她与麦康奈尔意见不一，麦康奈尔需要至少50票才能推动特朗普提名人在参议院获得通过，外加副总统迈克·彭斯的决定性投票。

与柯林斯一样，穆尔科斯基在金斯伯格死后发表了一份声明，赞扬了她，但没有提到她是否赞成投票选择特朗普来取代她。

SEN. THOM TILLIS

在司法委员会任职的北卡罗来纳州共和党人蒂利斯(Tillis)是几名共和党参议员中的一员，他们在艰难的连任竞选中与特朗普一道呼吁迅速就最高法院提名人进行投票。亚利桑那州参议员玛莎·麦克萨利和佐治亚州参议员凯利·雷夫勒——都被任命为他们的席位——也呼吁尽快投票。

“在最高法院的未来上，有一个明确的选择，要么是合格的保守派法学家特朗普总统提名，我支持，要么是自由派活动家乔·拜登提名，卡尔·坎宁安支持，谁将从法官席立法激进的左翼政策，”蒂利斯在推特上说，他指的是他的民主党对手、前州参议员卡尔·坎宁安。

2016年，蒂利斯反对给梅里克·加兰举行听证会，称在填补最高法院空缺时，“美国人民的声音应该得到重视”，并补充说提名“最好留给下一任总统”。\ ' \ '

SEN. MITT ROMNEY

犹他州共和党人罗姆尼是唯一投票支持弹劾特朗普的共和党参议员，他星期五发表声明赞扬金斯伯格，但没有评论他是否会支持投票支持特朗普的提名人。

他的发言人称一份报告称罗姆尼将坚持将投票推迟到就职日之后是“非常错误的”。罗姆尼从未面临过最高法院提名参议员的投票。

GOP senators confront past comments on Supreme Court vote

WASHINGTON -- Republican senators weighing what to do about the vacancy on the Supreme Court are facing questions about their own past comments amid complaints by Democrats that their views have shifted with changing political reality.

President Donald Trump on Saturday urged the GOP-run Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination to fill the seat vacated by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday. The move comes just six weeks before the election.

A look at what key Republican senators were saying in the past — and what they are saying now — about filling a seat on the Supreme Court during an election year.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, vowed in a statement Friday night, hours after Ginsburg’s death, to call a floor vote on Trump's nominee, although he did not specify a date. McConnell, who sets the calendar in the Senate, has made judicial appointments a top priority.

McConnell's statement on the latest vacancy stands in stark contrast to the position he took in 2016, when he refused to consider President Barack Obama’s choice for the high court months ahead of the election. McConnell blocked hearings for Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge, saying the choice should be left to voters in an election year.

Democrats said Republicans should follow the precedent they set in 2016 by not considering a Supreme Court choice in the run-up to an election, but McConnell's comments make it clear he has no intention of doing so.

"Americans re-elected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise,'' McConnell said.

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN LINDSEY GRAHAM

Graham, who will oversee the vetting of the nomination as Judiciary chairman, tweeted Saturday that he will support Trump "in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg.”

Graham's comment contradicts his statements in 2018 and 2016 that a Supreme Court nominee should not be considered in an election year.

"If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election,'' Graham said in 2018 at an event hosted by The Atlantic magazine. Reminded that he was speaking on the record, Graham said: “Yeah. Hold the tape.″

Two years earlier, in the midst of the Garland battle, the South Carolina senator was even more emphatic, urging listeners at a Judiciary Committee meeting to “use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president (elected) in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, ‘Let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.’”

Despite those comments, Graham said Saturday that he supports moving forward on a new nomination because Democrats had changed the Senate rules to confirm more circuit court judges during Obama’s tenure, and because Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer "and his friends in the liberal media conspired to destroy the life of Brett Kavanaugh and hold that Supreme Court seat open.”

Kavananugh was narrowly confirmed to the Supreme Court in 2018 after a bitter, partisan fight in which Graham played a key role to advance Kavanaugh.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS

Collins, a Maine Republican who is considered a moderate, said Saturday that “in fairness to the American people,” the Senate should not vote on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court until after the election and that the nomination "should be made by the president who is elected on November 3rd.”

Collins voted in favor of Kavanaugh in 2018 — a vote that has played a key role in her reelection campaign. Liberal groups have targeted Collins over her support for Kavanaugh, and she trails her Democratic opponent in publicly released opinion polls. Her statement seems to leave open the possibility of supporting Trump's nominee in the “lame duck” session after the election if Trump wins a second term.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY

Grassley, an Iowa Republican, drew condemnation from Democrats in 2016 when, as Judiciary chairman, he blocked confirmation hearings for Garland, who was nominated to the high court after Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly in February 2016.

At the time, Grassley cited “the Biden Rule” in holding up the process. The informal “rule” — never adopted by the Senate in any formal sense — stemmed from a speech given by then-Sen. Joe Biden in 1992 that the Senate should not fill a Supreme Court vacancy until after the presidential election. Biden, who served as Obama's vice president, is now the Democratic nominee for president.

More recently, Grassley told reporters in July that if he still chaired Judiciary and a vacancy occurred, "I would not have a hearing on it because that’s what I promised the people in 2016.”

Grassley issued a statement Friday night praising Ginsburg but did not comment on whether Trump should move forward with a replacement.

SEN. JONI ERNST

Ernst, an Iowa Republican up for reelection this year, serves on the Judiciary panel. She said in July that in the event of a Supreme Court vacancy, the Senate should hold hearings on Trump’s nominee, even if he loses the presidential election in November.

Ernst’s campaign sent out a fundraising email Friday night saying: "Our Conservative values and Constitutional rights are now on the line. The next Supreme Court nominee will shape major decisions for decades to come.”

Ernst issued a statement later Friday saying the email “never should have gone out.”

“Though I never saw it, it was sent out under my name and I take responsibility for it,” Ernst said. “Tonight, my prayers are with the family of Justice Ginsburg.”

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI

Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who opposed Kavanaugh's confirmation, said in an interview hours before Ginsburg's death that she “would not vote to confirm” her replacement before the next president is inaugurated.

Her comments to Alaska Public Radio on Friday also occurred before McConnell said the Senate will vote on Trump's nominee to replace Ginsburg. Murkowski’s comment appeared to put her at odds with McConnell, who will need at least 50 votes to push a Trump nominee through the Senate, plus a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence.

Murkowski, like Collins, issued a statement after Ginsburg’s death that praised her but did not mention whether she’d favor voting on a Trump pick to replace her.

SEN. THOM TILLIS

Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who serves on the Judiciary panel, was among several GOP senators in tough reelection battles to join Trump in calling for a swift vote on a Supreme Court nominee. Arizona Sen. Martha McSally and Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler — both appointed to their seats — also called for a quick vote.

"There is a clear choice on the future of the Supreme Court between the well-qualified and conservative jurist President Trump will nominate and I will support, and the liberal activist Joe Biden will nominate and Cal Cunningham will support, who will legislate radical, left-wing policies from the bench,” Tillis said on Twitter, referring to his Democratic opponent, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham.

In 2016, Tillis opposed giving Merrick Garland a hearing, saying “the voice of the American people should be weighted heavily” in filling a Supreme Court vacancy, adding that the nomination "would be best left to the next president.''

SEN. MITT ROMNEY

Romney, a Utah Republican who was the sole GOP senator to vote in favor of Trump's impeachment, issued a statement Friday praising Ginsburg, but did not comment on whether he would support a vote on Trump's nominee.

His spokeswoman called a report that Romney would insist on delaying the vote until after Inauguration Day “grossly false.” Romney has never faced a vote on a Supreme Court nominee as a senator.