Theological Journal – September 21 A Crisis of Integrity

 

If anyone cares: If four of these Republicans are true to their word  

“If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.” -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 2016 

"The American people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue, so let's give them a voice. Let's let the American people decide. The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be.” -- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 2016 

“It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year.” -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), 2016 

“I proudly stand with my Republican colleagues in our shared belief -- our advice and consent -- that we should not vote on any nominee until the next president is sworn into office. The People will decide. … We the People get to exercise our authority to decide the direction of the Supreme Court and the Bill of Rights.” – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), 2016 

“The Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president.” -- Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), 2016 

“Confirming a new Supreme Court Justice during a presidential election year for a vacancy arising that same year is not common in our nation's history; the last time it happened was in 1932. … I believe the American people deserve to have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court Justice, and the best way to ensure that happens is to have the Senate consider a nomination made by the next President. – Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), 2016 

“If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.” -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 2018 

“I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.” -- Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), 2016 

“I don’t think we should be moving on a nominee in the last year of this president’s term. I would say that if it was a Republican president.” -- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), 2016 

“As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will do everything in my power to encourage the president and Senate leadership not to start this process until we hear from the American people.” -- Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), 2016 

“A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.” -- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), 2016 

“The campaign is already under way. It is essential to the institution of the Senate and to the very health of our republic to not launch our nation into a partisan, divisive confirmation battle during the very same time the American people are casting their ballots to elect our next president.” -- Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), 2016 

“In this election year, the American people will have an opportunity to have their say in the future direction of our country. For this reason, I believe the vacancy left open by Justice Antonin Scalia should not be filled until there is a new president.” -- Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), 2016 

“I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people to weigh in… It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 years since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.” -- Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), 2016 

“I strongly agree that the American people should decide the future direction of the Supreme Court by their votes for president and the majority party in the U.S. Senate.” -- Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), 2016