Braun says Trump should nominate high court justice

One of Indiana's two Republican U.S. senators said Saturday night that he supports President Donald Trump's plan to nominate a Supreme Court justice this week for the Senate to consider confirming – even with a presidential election looming Nov. 3.

“I think that elections have consequences,” Sen. Mike Braun said in a telephone interview. “We do have the presidency, and we have the Senate, and I think most Republicans in Indiana would want us to move forward, and I think there are even independents and others that might as well.”

Braun said that nominating a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Baden Ginsburg is Trump's decision to make, the confirmation vote is up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to schedule, “and I'm fine with what it looks like is going to happen.”

McConnell said Friday night after Ginsburg died that the Senate will vote on Trump's nominee to replace her, although he did not specify when. Trump on Saturday urged the Senate to act on his unannounced nominee “without delay.”

In 2016, McConnell blocked Merrick Garland, Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee for a Supreme Court vacancy, from receiving a hearing or vote, saying the selection should belong to the winner of that year's presidential election, who turned out to be Trump.

Braun, who was elected in 2018, said Saturday that he hopes Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appellate judge and former University of Notre Dame Law School professor. Trump reportedly has identified Barrett as a front-runner for the nomination he intends to announce this week.

The office of Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said Saturday afternoon that he had no comment beyond his statement Friday night in which he described Ginsburg as “a trailblazer in the legal profession” and whose “commitment to public service will continue to inspire future generations of Americans.”

Young, then a member of the House and a candidate for his party's Senate nomination, said in March 2016 that the Senate should not consider Obama's nominee for a Supreme Court vacancy during what was a presidential election year.

“Given that this lifetime appointment could reshape the Supreme Court for generations I would prefer that the American people be offered an opportunity to weigh in this fall, and I share Vice President Joe Biden's reservations about the Senate holding confirmation hearings during a Presidential election year; it's about principle and process, not the person,” Young said in a statement published at the time by the South Bend Tribune.

As part of the Senate GOP leadership team headed by McConnell, Young is in charge of efforts to elect or reelect Republican senators.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-3rd, tweeted Friday night that Trump should nominate, and the Senate should confirm, “a pro-life Justice who will defend our Constitution.” Banks also tweeted that he hopes Trump will pick Barrett and that “the Senate confirms her before the end of the year.”

Banks' challenger in the November election, Democrat Chip Coldiron, said Friday in a statement that Senate Republicans should follow their 2016 position on Obama and Garland.

“Now, only 45 days from a Presidential election, with a vacancy on the highest court in the land and a third of the Senate on the ballot, there is no excuse for backtracking on that precedent,” he said.

bfrancisco@jg.net