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Republicans Plot Quick Confirmation Of Trump's Supreme Court Nominee
Republicans plan a speedy confirmation process for President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, proceeding on the assumption they’ll support someone whose name has not yet been announced and submitted to the Senate.
Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hasn’t laid out a schedule yet, Republicans are aiming to hold a final vote on a nominee to replace the liberal icon shortly before the Nov. 3 election, according to The Associated Press. Two weeks of confirmation hearings would occur sometime in mid-October.
That timeline would be extremely aggressive compared with the process for recent Supreme Court appointments, including the two previously made by Trump. The Senate did not begin hearings for Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017 until 47 days after his nomination was announced. It did not begin hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 until 56 days after his nomination was announced.
Republicans serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with vetting judicial nominees, defended proceeding with a truncated schedule that would provide only two weeks for preparations for the hearings after Trump reveals his pick on Saturday.
“For me, it would be,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said when asked by reporters on Tuesday if proceeding with hearings next month would allow him enough time to prepare. The senator added that the schedule could be altered.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee also said she was fine with speedy action on the nominee, saying, “We’re going to get our nominee. We’ll do our hearings.”
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative federal appellate judge and Notre Dame law professor, is widely seen as a frontrunner for the job.
Trump has openly admitted he wants to fill the vacancy before the Nov. 3 election because he thinks the Supreme Court will have to weigh in on a disputed election, suggesting he plans to take legal action if the results...
