犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼经常批评总统唐纳德·特朗普周二宣布，他将支持今年对他的最高法院提名人进行投票，这可能发生在11月3日总统大选之前选举。
2020年9月22日，参议员米特·罗姆尼在DC国会山走向他的办公室时，与一名助手交谈，此前他宣布将支持在11月总统选举前在最高法院接替鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格。
“宪法赋予总统提名的权力，参议院有权就最高法院的提名提供建议和同意。因此，我打算遵循宪法和先例来考虑总统的提名。他在一份声明中说:“如果被提名人进入参议院，我打算根据他们的资格进行投票。”。
“我关于最高法院提名的决定不是‘公平’主观测试的结果，公平和美丽一样，是旁观者的看法。它是建立在遵循法律的不可改变的公平的基础上的，在这种情况下，这就是宪法和先例。选举年提名的历史先例是，参议院通常不会确认反对党的提名人，但会确认自己的提名人，”他说。
罗姆尼的声明是对参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)努力锁定共和党对民主党愤怒反对提名投票的支持的重大推动。
2020年9月21日，在美国国会大厦，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔走向会议厅，就最高法院大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格之死发表讲话。
麦康奈尔可以承受失去53名共和党参议员中的三名，但仍能获得确认提名，因为副总统迈克·彭斯会打破任何平局。
罗姆尼被视为共和党人的一个可能的弱点，因为他是唯一一位在弹劾审判中投票给特朗普定罪的共和党参议员。
但他粉碎了民主党的希望，即他将加入缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·科林斯和阿拉斯加州共和党参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基的行列，他们表示反对在选举前向前推进。他们引用了共和党在2016年阻止梅里克·加兰法官的举动，梅里克·加兰法官是巴拉克·奥巴马总统在选举日之前近9个月提名填补最高法院空缺的人，当时共和党人认为离选举太近了。
罗姆尼周二表示，他不认为现在推进提名(距离选举只有六周)与共和党在加兰提名上的立场不一致。
爆料:共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)宣布，他将支持今年对特朗普总统预期的最高法院提名人进行投票，他说，“在现阶段，看看宪法是合适的。”https://t.co/lON6gvVkyVpic.twitter.com/q4B7jM4j7G
——美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2020年9月22日
加兰被提名时，共和党人控制了参议院。罗姆尼回应了许多共和党人最近几天提出的论点，他说，他认为现在的情况不同了，因为共和党人控制了白宫和参议院。
“我认为有些作家和其他人认为，‘哎呀，梅里克·加兰和其他一些人的遭遇是不公平的。’“我不同意这一点，”罗姆尼说这并不不公平，因为这符合历史。"
罗姆尼的声明让他与麦康奈尔保持一致，后者周二表示，“历史和先例在2016年是参议院多数派，现在他们压倒性地站在我们这边。”
其他共和党人也支持麦康奈尔。
西弗吉尼亚州参议员雪莱·摩尔·卡皮托星期二也宣布，她认为应该允许特朗普总统填补鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格法官留下的空缺。
如果没有至少四名共和党人参与阻止提名，民主党人几乎没有办法阻止麦康奈尔前进。
少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)周二指责共和党人使用“野蛮的政治力量”来推动快速投票，尽管他们在2016年制定了一套不同的规则。
舒默在参议院说:“麦康奈尔领袖玷污了参议院，这是这一代人中没有的，麦康奈尔领袖很可能摧毁它。”。“如果领袖麦康奈尔继续努力，共和党多数派将会利用完全矛盾的理由窃取最高法院相隔四年的两个席位。”
参议员查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer):“领袖麦康奈尔玷污了参议院，这是这一代人中没有的。麦康奈尔领袖很可能会摧毁它。”https://t.co/tvPKCyJDEmpic.twitter.com/goeQAOJ9qa
——美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2020年9月22日
在周日的“本周”节目中，众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)周日向美国广播公司(ABC)首席主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯(George Stephanopoulos)建议，民主党人正在考虑他们可以使用的所有程序选项，以推迟提名人，而不排除新的弹劾努力。
“我们有我们的选择，”佩洛西说。“我们箭囊里有箭，我现在不想讨论，但事实是我们国家面临着巨大的挑战。”
几天后，一些民主党人表示，如果民主党人在11月份获得参议院多数席位，他们可以在最高法院增加更多的法官。
麦康奈尔星期二也在参议院发言，他说民主党人正在激起“愤怒和歇斯底里”
麦康奈尔说:“向政治讹诈屈服无助于保证我们机构的安全。”。“你不能通过将劫持人质作为一种制胜策略来阻止不负责任的劫持人质行为。”
Romney supports election-year Senate vote on Trump's Supreme Court nominee
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of PresidentDonald Trump, announced Tuesday that he will support a vote on his Supreme Court nominee this year -- which could happen before the Nov. 3 presidentialelection.
Sen. Mitt Romney speaks with an aide as he walks to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 22, 2020, after announcing he would support moving forward to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Supreme Court before the presidential election in November.
“The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate and the Senate the authority to provide advice and consent on Supreme Court nominees. Accordingly, I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications,” he said in a statement.
“My decision regarding a Supreme Court nomination is not the result of a subjective test of ‘fairness’ which, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It is based on the immutable fairness of following the law, which in this case is the Constitution and precedent. The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own," he said.
Romney's announcement is a major boost to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's effort to lock down GOP support for a nomination vote over angry Democratic objections.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to the chamber to speak about the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 21, 2020.
McConnell can afford to lose three of the 53 Republican senators and still get a nominee confirmed because Vice President Mike Pence would break any tie.
Romney was seen as a possible vulnerability for Republicans being the only GOP senator to vote to convict Trump during his impeachment trial.
But he dashed Democratic hopes he would join GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska who have stated they oppose moving forward before the election. They've cited the Republican move in 2016 to block Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy nearly nine months before Election Day, when Republicans then argued it was too close to the election.
Romney said Tuesday that he does not believe moving forward with a nomination now -- with the election just six weeks away -- is inconsistent with the GOP position on the Garland nomination.
BREAKING: GOP Sen. Mitt Romney announces that he will support a vote on President Trump's expected Supreme Court nominee this year, saying, "at this stage, it's appropriate to look at the Constitution."https://t.co/lON6gvVkyVpic.twitter.com/q4B7jM4j7G
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)September 22, 2020
When Garland was nominated, Republicans controlled the Senate. Romney, echoing the argument many Republicans have made in recent days, said he believes the circumstances are different now because Republicans have control of both the White House and the Senate.
"I think there's some perception on the part of some writers and others that, 'Gee, what happened with Merrick Garland and some others was unfair.' I don't agree with that," Romney said. "It wasn't unfair because it was consistent with history."
Romney's announcement keeps him in lockstep with McConnell who on Tuesday said "history and precedent were on this Senate majority side in 2016 and they are overwhelmingly on our side now."
Other Republicans are also lining up behind McConnell.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia also announced Tuesday that she believes President Trump should be allowed to fill the vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Without at least four Republicans joining their efforts to block the nomination, Democrats have few means to stop McConnell from moving forward.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans Tuesday of using "brute political force" to push for a quick vote despite laying out a different set of rules in 2016.
"Leader McConnell has defiled the Senate like no one in this generation and Leader McConnell may very well destroy it," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "If leader McConnell presses forward the Republican majority would have stolen two Supreme Court seats four years apart using completely contradictory rationales."
Sen. Chuck Schumer: "Leader McConnell has defiled the Senate like no one in this generation. And Leader McConnell may very well destroy it."https://t.co/tvPKCyJDEmpic.twitter.com/goeQAOJ9qa
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)September 22, 2020
On "This Week" on Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday suggested to ABC Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos that Democrats were considering all procedural options at their disposal to delay a nominee, not ruling out a new impeachment effort.
"We have our options," Pelosi said. "We have arrows in our quiver that I'm not about to discuss right now but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country."
In days since, some Democrats have signaled they could be open to adding additional justices to the Supreme Court bench if Democrats were to take the Senate majority in November.
McConnell, also on the Senate floor Tuesday, said Democrats are stoking "outrage and hysteria."
"Giving in to political blackmail would not do a thing to secure our institutions," McConnell said. "You do not put a stop to irresponsible hostage taking by making hostage-taking a winning strategy."
