Mitt Romney says he will consider Supreme Court nominee this year

© (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sen. Mitt Romney, shown at the Capitol on Monday, was one of the last GOP holdouts to say whether he’d consider voting for a Ginsburg replacement so close to the election. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Sen. Mitt Romney said he will consider voting for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee this year, further buttressing Senate Republicans’ efforts to confirm a successor to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Romney (R-Utah) was one of the last Republican holdouts to announce whether he would consider voting for a nominee so close to the presidential election, after Republicans refused for most of 2016 to consider President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, after the death of Antonin Scalia.

Only two Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — have said they would not consider supporting a nominee before election day, Nov. 3. Two more Republicans would have to defect for Democrats to have a realistic chance of blocking Trump’s nominee.

Romney said Tuesday that he thinks it is fair to consider a nominee now because the White House and Senate are controlled by the same political party, which was not the case in 2016.

“The historical precedent of election year nominations is that the Senate generally does not confirm an opposing party’s nominee but does confirm a nominee of its own,” Romney said in a statement. “Accordingly, I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the president’s nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications.”

Trump has not yet named a nominee but said he intends to likely on Saturday.