WASHINGTON, D.C. (KXAN) — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she will oppose a vote on a U.S. Supreme Court nominee before the 2020 Presidential Election, CNN reports.
Murkowski, who has served the state of Alaska since 2002, says her position remains the same now, in the wake of the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as it was in 2016, in the wake of Judge Antonin Scalia.
“For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election. Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed,” Murkowski said in a statement.
Murkowski continued that she did not support filling Scalia’s seat eight months before the 2016 election and this year’s election is even closer now than it was then.
“I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election — less than two months out — and I believe the same standard must apply.”
Murkowski joins fellow Republican Susan Collins, of Maine, becoming key in the opposition to filling Ginsburg’s seat.
Senate Republicans will need 51 votes to confirm a new justice after a formal nomination. Should three Republicans oppose nomination, the nomination would be stalled until at least after the Nov. 3 Presidential Election.
Murkowski has not indicated if she would oppose Trump’s nominee in a lame-duck session should Democrat Joe Biden win.
On Saturday, the day after Ginsburg’s death, the 87-year-old’s granddaughter said her grandmother’s dying wish was to “not be replaced until a new president is installed.”