There’s an empty slot on the Supreme Court, and a number of Republican lawmakers say that Utah senator Mike Lee is the right person for the job.
Lee is on a short list of potential nominees for a High Court vacancy, which President Donald Trump said he is consulting to fill the seat left open by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. So is Lee’s brother, Utah Supreme Court Justice Thomas Lee. The Utah senator has said he would accept the position if offered.
GOP leaders say they want to replace Kennedy ahead of the fall congressional elections, and they’re now facing a short time frame.
“He’d be a great choice,” said Kentucky senator Rand Paul. “I’d hate to lose him, he’s one of my closest allies. But he’d be a great choice.” The two privacy-minded lawmakers have previously partnered on a range of issues, including surveillance.
Arizona senator Jeff Flake, a member of the Judiciary Committee who is threatening to stall some circuit court nominations in an effort to force action over tariffs, also said Thursday that he approves of Lee.
“I think Mike Lee would be a great Supreme Court Justice,” he told reporters with a smile, after being asked if he would vote to confirm his colleague.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said he approved of the pick but would not discuss the president’s thoughts on the matter. “I don’t know that it matters what I think, but sure, Mike Lee would be a great justice,” he said.
Trump is considering Lee, and asked his advisers for their thoughts on the matter, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. But the president has raised concerns about losing Lee’s Senate seat, and reportedly cited the loss of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ seat to Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama. Both Alabama and Utah are solidly red states.
Utah senator Orrin Hatch said he would support Lee. But he added that he thought it more likely that Lee’s brother, who is already a judge, would be selected. “If they were going to choose a Lee, it seems to me they’d choose his brother,” he said.
“I personally wish it were Mike Lee, but that’s selfish,” Florida senator Marco Rubio said after a Republican Senate lunch Thursday. “By the way, I was joking with him, I don’t think there has ever been two brothers on a Supreme Court list,” he smiled. “Almost like a conspiracy.”
“He’s on the list. I told him I’m all for him,” said Texas senator John Cornyn.
Then there’s pro-choice Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who both voted to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch and who are now both under pressure amid concerns that the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling could be overturned. Whoever is nominated to the court would need a simple majority of 51 votes to be confirmed, after Senate Republicans invoked the “nuclear option” for Supreme Court nominees in approving Gorsuch last year.
Hatch said the question of overturning Roe is “always a big issue” in the Supreme Court nomination process.
“I doubt that anybody is going to try and change Roe v. Wade,” Hatch said, later adding, “Most people who are intelligent realize that that’s a long-standing precedent now. It would cause real warfare if that were overturned.”
The White House’s Marc Short suggested that the administration would be reaching out to Collins and Murkowski.
“If you look back to the last nomination with Judge Gorsuch, there was intentional effort to reach out and to get their thoughts,” he said. “I would imagine that a similar process would happen this time.”
Lee is no fan of Roe. Asked on Thursday about concerns that Trump’s appointee would overturn it and other decisions, Lee said on Fox News that stare decisis must be considered.
“All of those issues involve cases that have been decided previously by the Supreme Court. It’s one thing for them to assume that a Republican appointee might come at those issues from a different worldview as a matter of first impression,” he said. “They have to take into account the doctrine of stare decisis, which is a doctrine that generally puts the Supreme Court on a path of following precedent.”
Collins told reporters on Thursday that Roe is “an important precedent and it is settled law.” Murkowski responded “hmm” when asked about Lee, according to Bloomberg. She said in a statement Wednesday that her “standards for Supreme Court nominees are extremely high” and that she would “cast an independent vote.”
“Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins can handle pressure,” Rubio said of his colleagues. “These are very serious, professional people with strong legislative records. They’re going to do what they believe is right.”
