President Trump indicated that he will soon nominate a replacement to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!” the president wrote Saturday morning.
.@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2020
On Friday, news broke that Ginsburg had died due to complications related to her battle with cancer. The president made no indication that evening on whether or not he would quickly nominate a replacement.
Shortly after the announcement of the late justice’s passing, the political debates began, with Republicans beginning to indicate they might vote on a nominee and Democrats urging them not to.
Former Obama administration official Steven Rattner tweeted, “Harry Reid will go down in history for having handed the court to conservatives when he took the first step toward eliminating the 60 vote requirement for confirmation.”
Trump retweeted the comment and added, “Thank you Harry!”
Sen. Mitch McConnell released a statement announcing he would allow a floor vote to happen on a pick if the president chose to nominate one.
In a leaked letter to his colleagues in the Senate, McConnell warned those who might be unsure of how they would handle the situation or who felt they might oppose voting on a nominee to keep their “powder dry.”
“This is not the time to prematurely lock yourselves into a position you may later regret,” he said.
In 2016, when former President Barack Obama nominated a replacement to fill the vacancy left on the court by Justice Antonin Scalia, Republicans flatly refused to vote on his nominee, arguing that voters needed a chance to make their voices heard in November before they could make a decision. Republicans assert that they argued this because, at the time, Republicans were in control of the Senate, and Democrats were in control of the White House.
Democrats have called foul, arguing that this represents hypocrisy on the side of Republicans. But in 2016, Democrats argued that votes on a nominee in an election year were acceptable.
