Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) said on Monday that he will oppose President Trump’s forthcoming Supreme Court pick because the nomination will have been a “corrupt bargain” with the “far Right.”
The decision by Casey — who is running for reelection in a state Trump won in 2016 — comes before Trump names his nominee to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“I will oppose the nomination the President will make tonight because it represents a corrupt bargain with the far Right, big corporations, and Washington special interests,” Casey said in a
series of tweets explaining his decision.
Trump is scheduled to name his nominee at 9 p.m. Eastern from the White House, sparking a high-stakes confirmation fight months before the November midterm election.
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Each of the potential nominees is on a list previously released by Trump. The list has been blasted by Democrats because it was compiled in consultation with outside conservative groups.
Casey
added that the judges under consideration by Trump are the “fruit of a corrupt process straight from the D.C. swamp.”
“This list is the bidding of corporate special interests hell-bent on handing health care over to insurance companies, crushing unions that represent working men and women, and promoting policies that will leave the middle-class further behind,” he said.
The Senate GOP campaign arm hammered Casey over his remarks, saying he has “given up any pretense of being a moderate voice.”
“Casey’s willingness to oppose any nominee off of a list that includes judges he has previously voted for shows he will oppose President Trump at all costs, even when doing so makes him look like a partisan hack,” Bob Salera, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.
White House spokesman Raj Shah, meanwhile, called Casey’s opposition unfortunate, but not surprising.
Since Senate Republicans changed the rules last year by getting rid of the 60-vote filibuster for Supreme Court nominations, whomever Trump picks could be confirmed without help from Democrats if Republicans remain united.
With GOP Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) undergoing treatment for brain cancer, their 51-seat caucus is effectively capped at 50 votes.
But Democrats running for reelection are expected to face pressure to support Trump’s nominee.
Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) supported Justice Neil Gorsuch’s nomination last year.
— This report was updated at 1:37 p.m.
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