Sen. Josh Hawley said there could be a new Supreme Court justice ready to be on the bench sooner than the end of October.
The Missouri Republican is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees nominations to federal courts, including the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, Hawley said he believes it is not only necessary to confirm a judge to the high court before Election Day, but also doable.
“I think we could go even faster than Halloween, and that includes a full set of public hearings, as well as a full 30 hours of debate on the Senate floor,” Hawley told Fox News host Bill Hemmer. “That’s what the Senate rules call for in the case of a Supreme Court nominee. We could do all of that and be ready to vote before the election.”
Hawley, who formerly served as the attorney general of Missouri before being elected to the Senate, previously vowed he would never vote for a Supreme Court nominee who believes in the legality of the 1973 landmark case Roe v. Wade.
The case, which ruled that abortion was a right protected by the Constitution, has become a key factor in deciding the makeup of the court after the death of liberal-leaning Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday. Hawley stood by his previous stance on the case, saying President Trump will keep his promise to appoint anti-abortion justices to the court.
“My preference is for somebody who is going to be a strong, staunch defender of the Constitution,” Hawley said. “Somebody who understands that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and was an act of judicial imperialism. Someone who is going to defend the Second Amendment. Someone who’s going to defend religious liberty. I think that the president’s going to nominate a justice, Bill, who fills that description.”
Hawley also said he wants to see somebody on the Supreme Court prior to the Nov. 3 case because of a high-profile religious liberty case expected to be taken up the following day.
The senator was likely referring to Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which concerns whether the government would violate adoption agencies’ First Amendment rights by forcing them to comply with policies contradicting their religious beliefs.
The case first came about when Philadelphia stopped working with Catholic Social Services in 2018. The city informed the group it would not work with the agency unless it agreed to serve gay couples seeking children.
“On Nov. 4, you’ve got a very key religious liberty case that is coming before the court,” Hawley said. “That is the day after the election. I hope the courts are not involved at all in this election, but if they are, we need a full complement of justices on the court.”
