INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Sen. Mike Braun said Tuesday that he supports the Senate taking a confirmation vote on a nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the November election.
“I think it’s important that we do this prior to the election,” Braun said in a news conference Tuesday. “(Republicans) do control the presidency and the Senate. And I think the majority of Hoosiers who elected me would be disappointed if we didn't do the vote."
Braun, a first-term Republican, said he thinks Trump should pick Amy Coney Barrett because of her judicial record. Barrett has served on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago for three years.
If the Senate vote gets delayed, however, Braun said his own vote won’t change: “It’s going to be on the merits of the case, regardless of whether it happens before or after the election.”
Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young has so far been been silent on whether he’ll vote for President Donald Trump’s nominee before the Nov. 3 election, giving only a brief statement Friday following the announcement of Ginsburg's death.
“Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer in the legal profession, rising to become the second female to serve on the nation’s highest court and earning a special place in our nation’s history," Young said in the statement. “Her commitment to public service will continue to inspire future generations of Americans.”
On Monday, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody pointed to Young's remarks after Justice Antonin Scalia's death in 2016. Young, a congressman at the time, said then that senators should “let the people decide our next Supreme Court Justice.”
“There’s no wiggle room for maneuvering. Either Todd Young believes the people should decide or he’s just another spineless politician without a moral compass and unaccountable to his own words," Zody said in a statement.
The senior senator from Indiana is expected to give remarks on filling the Supreme Court seat Tuesday afternoon.
Trump said he will announce his nominee on Saturday.
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Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
