Sen. Maria Cantwell, Washington Democrat, warned her colleagues Sunday that a wrong decision on President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee could become a “career-ending move.”
“I think that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle know that this vote could be one of the key votes of their entire career,” Ms. Cantwell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And they know that no matter what spin comes out of the White House, if they vote for somebody who’s going to change precedent, it could be a career-ending move.”
For pro-choice lawmakers, the phrase “change precedent” has become code for overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.
Mr. Trump has said he will announce his pick on July 9 to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who often acted as the court’s swing vote.
His role on the court has raised the stakes is expected to result in a more pitched battle than that surrounding than Mr. Trump’s first selection, Neil Gorsuch, who filled the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative.
“This is a very different Supreme Court discussion because everyone in the United States Senate who’s going to vote on this knows that it will change the balance of power,” said Ms. Cantwell. “So you’re not just voting on whether you think Trump should have his nominee, you’ve voting on whether that nominee is going to change precedent when it comes to a whole host of issues.”
EXCLUSIVE: Democratic senator warns colleagues of ’career-ending’ Supreme Court votehttps://t.co/vpkzWVs2Tk pic.twitter.com/kfj7RbsULn
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 1, 2018
Mr. Trump met Thursday with five Senate Democratic and Republican moderates expected to cast crucial votes on the nomination, including GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
“We’re a 51-49 senate, and if he wants to throw an extreme conservative who basically says I’m not going to follow precedent, I’m not going to follow these laws, then yes, that to me is a major change,” said Ms. Cantwell.
If Mr. Trump does nominate an “extreme conservative,” she said the plan is to emphasize how the nominee would change the court’s ideological balance.
“The plan here is to speak out about the change in balance in the court,” said Ms. Cantwell. “You are not just voting as was with Gorsuch for just one more name. You know that Justice Kennedy was a swing vote, that he was a libertarian.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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