Alaska’s senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski, said Saturday that she will vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, giving crucial support to President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before the conservative judge faces a final vote expected Monday.
The Republican had been a rare holdout on Barrett, decrying that her nomination had proceeded so close to a presidential election. Even though Barrett appears to have support for confirmation from Senate Republicans who hold the majority in the chamber, Murkowski’s vote now gives Trump’s nominee additional backing.
Murkowski announced her support for Barrett in a speech during Saturday’s session.
“While I oppose the process that has led us to this point, I do not hold it against her as an individual who has navigated the gauntlet with grace, skill and humility,” she said.
She said that while she will vote to confirm Barrett, she would still oppose procedural steps to move Barrett’s nomination forward.
Barrett would replace former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose death in September set off a contentious debate over how to move forward and fill her Supreme Court seat.
Just hours before the justice’s death, Murkowski told a public radio reporter that she would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court justice before the 2020 election. Murkowski referenced those remarks during her floor speech on Saturday, noting that in 2016, after Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, she said the Senate should not “take up a nominee to fill that seat due to the impending presidential election.”
“I didn’t know that (Justice Ginsburg) had passed when I reaffirmed my comments from earlier, but that knowledge would not have changed my mind.” Murkowski said Saturday. “I remain in the same place today.”
The senator said she does not believe moving forward with a nominee when partisan tensions are high “will help our country become a better version of itself.”
“But I’ve lost that procedural fight,” Murkowski continued.
People opposed to Barrett’s nomination have expressed concern about her views on abortion rights and whether she would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision affirming that the constitutional right to privacy includes a woman’s right to have an abortion.
Murkowski, who has historically supported access to abortion rights and women’s reproductive health, said Saturday that she had engaged with Barrett for a “lengthy one-on-one” regarding several issues, including the weight the judge places on long-standing decisions like Roe vs. Wade.
“I do not believe Judge Barrett will take her seat on the bench with a predetermined agenda,” she said.
Alaska’s other Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, said earlier this week that he would support Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, calling her an “exceptional jurist.”
Daily News reporter Morgan Krakow contributed. Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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October 25, 2020 at 05:08AM
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Sen. Murkowski says she'll support Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court - Anchorage Daily News
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