Senate Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate will vote on President Trump’s pick to replace Ruth Bader-Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
In a statement, McConnell praised Bader Ginsburg for her work on the Supreme Court, noting she “overcame on personal challenge and professional barrier after another.” However, McConnell confirmed that the Senate would be voting on a pick from President Trump to replace her before the election.
“In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term,” the statement reads:
Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year. By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise. President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United State’s Senate.
The Senate and the nation mourn the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/NOwYLhDxIk
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) September 19, 2020
However, it seems there may not be enough votes within the Senate, even with a Republican majority, for McConnell and others to confirm a new Supreme Court justice before the election in November. A number of Republican senators have previously come out and said that they would vote against President Trump’s nominee, whoever that may be.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said this afternoon, before the announcement of Ginsburg’s death, that she would not vote on a new SCOTUS justice “until after Americans decide who their president will be.” Maine’s Susan Collins had also previously stated that she would not seat a new justice in October.
Let me amend that. She said she wouldn't confirm until after Americans decide who their president will be. Stay tuned for @kcgrove story @AKPublicNews
— Liz Ruskin (@lruskin) September 19, 2020
News: @SenatorCollins told me earlier this month in Maine that she would not seat a Supreme Court justice in October.
“I think that’s too close, I really do,” she said.
She said she’d also oppose seating a justice in the lame duck if there’s a change in presidents.
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 19, 2020
A vote would also go against the direct last wishes of Bader Ginsburg herself. “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she said in a statement written for her death.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg, in a statement written for her death: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed" – NPR
— BNO News (@BNONews) September 18, 2020
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