PENNSYLVANIA – Today, Pat Toomey announced that he will vote to fill Justice Ginsburg’s vacancy on the Supreme Court despite refusing a vote on Merrick Garland and repeatedly stating that it would be inappropriate to name a new justice within months of a Presidential election.
“Pat Toomey is the spineless lapdog of Donald Trump and all of his big money friends,” said Brendan Welch, communications director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “Pat Toomey is a hypocrite and an embarrassment. The people of Pennsylvania deserve a Senator who will fight for them and tell them the truth. Pat Toomey is clearly not that guy.”
In a 2016 interview with The Associated Press, Toomey said Obama “intends to change the balance of the court and I am not going to support him changing the balance of the court with nine months before an election, I’m not going to do that.”
“With the U.S. Supreme Court’s balance at stake, and with the presidential election fewer than eight months away, it is wise to give the American people a more direct voice in the selection and confirmation of the next justice. Should Merrick Garland be nominated again by the next president, I would be happy to carefully consider his nomination, as I have done with dozens of judges submitted by President Obama.” [Toomey Statement, 3/16/16]
“In 2018, I asked Sen Toomey when would be no longer appropriate for Pres Trump to nominate to SCOTUS, he said he thought summer 2020”
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey Silent On Whether Senate Should Consider Supreme Court Pick Before Election
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