After voting against proceeding to a final vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told reporters that she opposed his confirmation because she believes the vote has become about more than one nominee.
Murkowski, the only Senate Republican to vote against his confirmation, said that Kavanaugh is a “good man” but that he’s not the right person to take a seat on the Supreme Court right now. She said that the confirmation process has not been fair to Kavanaugh but that she must push for greater fairness within government.
“This hasn’t been fair to the judge, but I also recognize that we need to have institutions that are viewed as fair and if people who are victims, if people who feel that there is no fairness in our system of government, particularly within our courts, we’ve gone down a path that is not good and right for this country,” she said, according to a transcript of her remarks.
“And so I have been wrestling with whether or not this was about qualifications of a good man or is this bigger than the nomination. And I believe we are dealing with issues right now that are bigger than a nominee and how we ensure that our institutions not only our legislative branch but our judicial branch continue to be respected,” she continued.
Murkowski told reporters that she will develop a full statement and deliver it on the Senate floor later today.
