As Senate Republicans plot their path forward on how to handle the new vacancy on the Supreme Court, some of the president’s ardent supporters are calling on the chamber to confirm a nominee before the election.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that he believes Senate Republicans will be able to secure enough votes to confirm President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Cruz admitted he does not know the answer to whether or not they will have the votes, however, he added, “I believe we will.”
“I think it is particularly important that the Senate take it up and confirm this nomination before the election,” Cruz said.
He went to claim that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would challenge the results of the election — which he has not explicitly said.
Cruz also noted that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that Biden should not concede the election, as IJR reported.
And he voiced his concern about a “constitutional crisis” if Biden challenged the results of the election if he lost.
Watch the video below:
“I don’t know … I believe we will, ” Sen Ted Cruz tells @gstephanopoulos when asked if Senate GOP have a the votes to confirm a Trump SCOTUS nomination ahead of Nov. 3 election, adding it’s “important” to fill the seat if there’s a contested election. https://t.co/qNV4rbeIYa pic.twitter.com/bRlF8YBTYR
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 20, 2020
When pressed on the fact that Biden has not explicitly said he would challenge the election, Cruz noted that Biden has hired a legal team “headed by Supreme Court advocates.”
However, Stephanopoulos noted that presidential campaigns regularly hire legal teams to look into irregularities in the results.
Still, Cruz raised concerns over the potential ramifications of having an equally divided court, “An equally divided 4-4 court can’t decide anything. That could make this presidential election drag on weeks and months and well into next year. That is an intolerable situation for the country.”
“We need a full court, on election day, given the very high likelihood that we’re going to see litigation that goes to the court. We need a Supreme Court that can give a definitive answer to the country,” he added.
While Cruz expressed optimism that Republicans will have enough votes to confirm Trump’s nominee, the road forward for Republicans appears uncertain with their narrow 53-47 seat majority.
On top of the expedited timeline for holding a confirmation vote, Republican leadership would have secure votes of senators who are facing tough re-election bids.
So far, Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have already spoken out to express their belief that any confirmation vote should take place after the election.
