Sen. Susan Colins (R-Maine) restated her opposition to Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court Sunday ahead of Monday evening’s scheduled final vote on the Senate floor.
Noting her vote does not reflect her opinion of Judge Barrett, Collins said that it would not be “fair nor consistent” for the Senate to confirm her to the court after refusing to consider President Barrack Obama’s nominee Judge Merrick Garland four years ago.
“Prior to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, I stated that, should a vacancy on the Supreme Court arise, the Senate should follow the precedent set four years ago and not vote on a nominee prior to the presidential election,” Collins
said in a statement. “Since her passing, I have reiterated that in fairness to the American people — who will either be re-electing the President or selecting a new one — the decision on the nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy should be made by whoever is elected on November 3rd.”
“Because this vote is occurring prior to the election, I will vote against the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett,” she added.
On Sunday, Senate Republicans voted 51-48 to advance Barrett’s nomination on the Senate floor, triggering a 30-hour period for debate before the final vote will take place Monday evening. Every Republican except Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted in favor of advancing Barrett, and all Democrats opposed.
Though Murkowski voted against advancing the nomination, she said in a speech Sunday that she will vote for Barrett’s confirmation.
“I have no doubt about her intellect. I have no doubt about Judge Barrett’s judicial temperament. I have no doubt about her capability to do the job,” Murkowski said on the Senate floor. “I have concluded that she is the sort of person we want on the Supreme Court.”
Collins is expected to be the lone Senate Republican voting against Barrett’s confirmation. No Democrats have announced their intention to vote for Barrett.
After Barrett cleared the final procedural hurdle before the final confirmation vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remarked that the Senate should be proud of advancing Barrett.
“A lot of what we’ve done over the last four years will be undone sooner or later by the next election,” McConnell said. “They won’t be able to do much about this for a long time to come.”