Toomey, swing state Republican, supports Senate moving on Trump Supreme Court nominee

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Tuesday said he will vote to confirm President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court if that person meets the appropriate criteria, putting another stake into Democratic hopes of keeping Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat vacant until January. 

Toomey is up for reelection in 2022 in a state where former Vice President Joe Biden is leading Trump in the polls by a small margin.

Despite being one of the few Senate Republicans who could face pushback from voters in 2022 for voting on Trump’s nominee so close to an election or in a lame-duck session, Toomey says it’s appropriate to confirm a justice to the Supreme Court before year’s end if that candidate is sufficiently qualified.

“I will evaluate President Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg based on whether the nominee has the character, intellect, and experience needed to serve on our nation’s highest court,” Toomey said in a statement. 

The Pennsylvania Republican noted he used the same criteria when he voted to confirm Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the high court in 2009. 

“If the person President Trump nominates also meets these criteria, I will vote to confirm this nominee,” Toomey said.

Toomey’s statement quashes what little, if any, hopes Democrats had left of finding four Senate Republicans to side with them in calling for Ginsburg’s seat to be held vacant until the results of the Nov. 3 election are known, and if Biden wins for a nominee to wait until 2021. 

Only moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have said the nomination should wait until it can be made by the winner of November’s presidential election.

Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who were seen as two other voices who might object to a speedy confirmation process, this week said they will vote for the nominee if that person is properly qualified. 

“If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications,” Romney said in a statement Tuesday. 

Gardner said Monday, “I have and will continue to support judicial nominees who will protect our Constitution, not legislate from the bench, and uphold the law.”

“Should a qualified nominee who meets this criteria be put forward, I will vote to confirm,” he said. 

Toomey in 2016 supported the decision by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) not to hold a vote on then-President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, in an election year.

But on Tuesday he said the situation in 2020 is different because the same party, the GOP, now controls the White House and Senate. Four years ago, Democrats controlled the White House while Republicans controlled the Senate.

“The Senate’s historical practice has been to fill Supreme Court vacancies in these circumstances. This is also a view Democrats once held,” Toomey argued.