Hawley: SCOTUS vacancy could be filled before Halloween, even with hearing and full Senate debate
'Let's get after it,' Senate Judiciary member tells 'Bill Hemmer Reports'
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The vacancy left by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week could be filled by the end of October -- if not earlier, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told “Bill Hemmer Reports" Thursday.
“I think we could [hold a final vote] even faster than Halloween,” Hawley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told host Bill Hemmer. “That includes a full set of public hearings, as well as a full 30 hours of debate on the Senate floor ... We could do all of that and be ready to vote before the election.”
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Hawley added that he believes it is essential to confirm a ninth Supreme Court justice before Election Day, should the high court need to become involved in voting disputes.
“I hope it does not, but I think it's certainly possible,” he explained. “You look at how close the elections have been the last several cycles -- I mean, really for 20 years now, stretching back to the 2000 election ... So I think you want a complement, a full complement of Supreme Court justices ready to go.”
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Hawley declined to name a preferred jurist to fill the vacancy, saying only that he hoped the nominee would be a “strong, staunch defender of the Constitution,” who understands that Roe v. Wade was “wrongly decided."
“This president has promised to appoint pro-life justices,” he said. “I think he'll keep his pledge. He has in the past. I think he will now.”
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“Above all else,” Hawley concluded, filling the vacancy is about Republicans keeping their promise.
“[Republican senators] said that they would fight to confirm pro-Constitution justices,” he said. “So let's get after it."