Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) vowed on Friday to do everything in his power to prevent the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
The senator wrote from his official Twitter account Friday that he would do everything in his power “to stop Judge Amy Coney Barrett from being confirmed to the Supreme Court,” referencing the circuit court Judge Barrett, whom Trump is widely anticipated to select as his nominee Saturday evening.
Markey reiterated similar sentiments from his Senate campaign Twitter account Saturday afternoon:
“Mitch McConell and the Republicans are trying to steal yet another Supreme Court seat, even after voting has already begun,” Markey wrote. “We won’t let them. I will do everything in my power to block this illegitimate nomination.”
Markey’s comments come ahead of Trump’s announcement, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Saturday, during which he will reportedly nominate Barrett to fill the vacancy on the high court following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), whom Markey accused of “trying to steal” another justice, has already affirmed Trump’s nomination will receive a vote on the Senate floor despite many Democrats accusing McConnell of disregarding precedent after he blocked former President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016.
McConnell has argued that Obama was seeking an “unusual favor” in that circumstance since Republicans were in control of the Senate at the time, citing another precedent: “Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year.”
Markey, who is seeking reelection to the U.S. Senate in November, also wrote that “if Trump and McConnell install a new Supreme Court justice before the inauguration, the Senate must abolish the filibuster and expand the courts,” echoing similar calls from other Democrats to expand or “pack” the court with more justices as their response to concerns of partisanship.
Barrett, assuming she is nominated and confirmed, would be Trump’s third justice to serve on the Supreme Court.