Published: 6/27/2018 7:29:00 PM
New Hampshire’s two Democratic U.S. senators are urging Republican President Donald Trump to nominate a mainstream candidate who would have the support of both political parties as a successor to retiring Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy.
“It’s important that whoever the president nominates to replace Justice Kennedy does not jeopardize progress on women’s reproductive, LGBTQ and civil rights,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said in a statement. “In particular, any nominee should uphold the precedent of Roe v. Wade.”
She urged the president to nominate “a non-ideological candidate who will fairly interpret the Constitution.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan echoed those comments.
“Any nominee for Supreme Court justice must be committed to protecting the rights of all Americans – including the reproductive rights of women – not just focused on protecting corporate special interests and the powerful few,” she said in a statement
Hassan added “that Supreme Court nominees should have broad support from both parties and be able to clear a 60-vote threshold.”
Shaheen and fellow Senate Democrats in 2016 urged the GOP majority in the chamber to allow a vote on Merrick Garland, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee to replace the late justice Antonin Scalia.
Republicans prevented a vote until after the presidential election, which was won by Trump.
The partisan Senate battle over the nomination was also a leading issue in then-Gov. Hassan’s campaign to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
Democrats are now urging that any vote on Kennedy’s successor be held after this year’s midterm elections. But the GOP majority is planning on a vote before November.