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Republican Senator Rebukes Trump, Opposes Filling RBG’s Seat Before Election

Are there more defections to come?

At the nation’s top newspapers and infotainment networks, interns and archivists are guzzling coffee by the gallon and working heavily extended hours this week, looking not only for footage of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s career on the bench of the Supreme Court, but also for anything related to the process of picking a Supreme Court nominee.

You see, the Democrats appear hellbent on blocking President Trump from nominating a justice anytime before the 2020 election, intimating their belief that allowing the American people to choose the next President provides a better context for which way this pick should go.  There are plenty of examples of politicians on both sides of the aisle espousing this belief, and the staff of these news outlets is working feverishly to find these contextual quotes.

But this is Washington DC, and what you said a year or more ago doesn’t seem to have any real sticking power in 2020.

One Republican Senator does appear to be keeping her word, however, and it has led many to wonder if any more members of the GOP will balk at Trump’s SCOTUS plans.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced on Saturday that she thinks Republicans should wait until after the 2020 elections to vote on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement — saying she wants whoever wins in November to nominate the next justice.

“In order for the American people to have in their elected officials, we must act fairly and consistently — no matter which political party is in power,” Collins said in a tweeted statement. 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 … 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 re-electing 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 in November 3.”

Collins, along with Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, were all considered to be potential defectors from the President’s plans on the subject of filling Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat, having often and publicly sparred with Trump over procedural issues.

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