Senator Marco Rubio blocked a vote for Mary Barzee Flores, a South Florida Judge. The senator has been mute on the subject for a year. South Florida’s legal committee first lobbied the Senator, and then accused him of blocking Flores for being a Democrat.
Rubio’s office asserts that a lot of misinformation has been spread on the matter.
The Senator opened up on the matter yesterday and stated that he was kept quiet out of respect for Flores. Rubio shed light on the matter on Wednesday, stating that Flores was not honest about her support for certain groups, such as EMILY’s list, which supports abortion-rights candidates.
“I have concerns about two of the answers she gave during her process through the Judicial Nominating Commission,” he said. The senator states that the answers did not reflect the answers she gave to the Judiciary Committee during a review.
“We cannot waste time with a nominee that is not going to get a vote with the committee,” Rubio said. The refusal to back Flores blocks her from nomination for the duration of Rubio’s term as Senator. Rubio’s time in the Senate will come to an end at the end of the year. Flores can be approved for federal judgeship following the departure of Rubio as long as the next senator backs her nomination.
