Sen. Sullivan says he supports vote on Trump’s Supreme Court nominee before election

Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan on Tuesday indicated that he’s ready to consider a Supreme Court nominee in an election year, a change from the approach he took in 2016 when he said Alaskans should have a choice through their vote in the presidential election.

“I look forward to seeing who the president nominates and thoroughly assessing her or his qualifications for this important role, as Alaskans expect me to do," Sullivan said in a prepared statement on Tuesday.

Senate Democrats have urged their Republican counterparts to delay a vote until after the election, to follow what happened in 2016 when the Republican-led Senate refused to hold a hearing for Merrick Garland, Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee at the time.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins of Maine have said they will keep the position they took in 2016, delaying a vote on a nominee until after the presidential election.

However, on Tuesday, Murkowski told Alaska Public Media that it’s possible she could vote to confirm a Trump nominee if the Senate Judiciary Committee approves one before the November election.

“I do not support this process moving forward,” she said. “Now, having said that, this process is moving forward with or without me.”

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah on Tuesday said he’ll vote on Trump’s nominee, helping cement support for a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the election. Trump has said he’ll forward a female nominee on Saturday after Ginsburg lies in state in the U.S. Capitol.

Sullivan said on Tuesday that the Senate has historically confirmed the nominee if it’s from their own party.

Addressing his position in 2016 versus now, Sullivan’s office said in a statement that the senator “does believe Alaskans deserve the chance to weigh in on an election-year nomination dispute between a president and Senate of different parties with very different visions for the direction of the Court. That was the case in 2016. It is not the case now, given that Alaskans and the American people elected a Republican president and an expanded Republican Senate majority.”

In a separate statement on Tuesday sent to reporters, Sullivan said, "the historical precedent and principle of an election year nomination to the Supreme Court, dating back to the founding of our republic, is that the Senate has generally confirmed a president’s nominee from its own party and not confirmed one from the opposing party.

"President Trump is well within his constitutional authority to nominate an individual for the Supreme Court vacancy, and the Senate will undertake its advice and consent responsibilities on confirmation, as authorized by the Constitution,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan’s argument shares similarities with statements made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Trump’s nominee will receive a vote this year. McConnell, explaining the refusal to advance Garland in 2016, has said that no Senate since the 1880s has confirmed an opposite-party Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year.

Sullivan said he has a history of helping confirm judges who interpret the law rather than make it and respect Alaskans' rights, “particularly as it relates to a robust respect for the Second Amendment, access to our lands, the rights of Alaska Natives, and a skeptical view of the power of federal agencies.”

In March 2016, Sullivan supported delaying a vote until after the election. He said Alaskans deserve to have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice, through their vote.

“The decision to withhold advancement of Mr. Garland’s nomination isn’t about the individual, it’s about the principle,” Sullivan said at the time.

On Saturday, Sullivan challenger Al Gross, a Democratic-nominated independent, issued a statement saying it’s “only fair” to wait to vote on a Supreme Court pick until after the November election.