Schumer: Ruth Bader Ginsburg seat should be filled by next president

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by stem12345679

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerPelosi orders Capitol flags at half-staff to honor Ginsburg Ginsburg in statement before her death said she wished not to be replaced until next president is sworn in Democrats call for NRA Foundation to be prohibited from receiving donations from federal employees MORE (D-N.Y.) said Friday night that the Senate should wait until next year to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ruth Bader GinsburgObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE's death.

"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," Schumer said in a tweet.

Schumer's tweet comes less than an hour after news broke that Ginsburg had died Friday at 87, throwing a landmine into an already chaotic presidential election year.

Schumer's tweet is a word-for-word copy of a statement Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE (R-Ky.) released in 2016 after the election-year death of the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

It also points to the looming battle over whether Senate Republicans will try to fill the seat in an election year, after leaving Scalia's seat open until 2017 when President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE appointed and the GOP-controlled Senate confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch Neil GorsuchObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Trump reacts to Ginsburg's death: 'An amazing woman who led an amazing life' McConnell says Trump nominee to replace Ginsburg will get Senate vote MORE.

McConnell, who is up for reelection, has vowed that he will try to fill an open seat. His office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Ginsburg's passing.

"If you're asking me a hypothetical ... we would fill it," McConnell told Fox News in February.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler Kelly LoefflerMcSally says current Senate should vote on Trump nominee Loeffler: Trump 'has every right' to fill Ginsburg vacancy before election McConnell says Trump nominee to replace Ginsburg will get Senate vote MORE (R-Ga.), who is facing a tough election in November, became the first senator to explicitly call for the seat to be filled this year.

"Our country’s future is at stake & @realDonaldTrump has every right to pick a new justice before the election. I look forward to supporting a strict constructionist who will protect the right to life & safeguard our conservative values," tweeted Loeffler, who took office in January.

But a handful of Republicans have been non-committal about if they would support filing an election-year vacancy, though they will likely face intense pressure from conservative activists and their own colleagues to do so. With a 53-47 majority, McConnell could lose three GOP senators and still let Vice President Pence break a tie.

“When Republicans held off Merrick Garland Merrick Brian GarlandObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE it was because nine months prior to the election was too close, we needed to let people decide. And I agreed to do that. If we now say that months prior to the election is OK when nine months was not, that is a double standard and I don’t believe we should do it,” Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) said earlier this year.

Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsSenate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg Democratic senator calls for eliminating filibuster, expanding Supreme Court if GOP fills vacancy What Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies MORE (R-Maine) indicated to The New York Times earlier this month that she also would not support filling a Supreme Court vacancy in the final weeks before an election, and would oppose filing the seat in the lame duck if the president lost in November.

“I think that’s too close, I really do,” she said.

According to the Congressional Research Service it takes an average of nearly 70 days for a Supreme Court nomination to be confirmed from the time they are nominated. That would put a confirmation vote on Ginsburg's successor, if Republicans move forward, during the end-of-year lame duck session.

cooperba2929 on September 19th, 2020 at 00:28 UTC »

I would say McConnell has set precedent on not approving a judge during an election year, with Merrick Garland. But that little shit will truly try to push someone through and it will be some trump monkey that will do his biddings...

Main-Double on September 19th, 2020 at 00:25 UTC »

Trump won’t wait. He’ll have candidates for the seat by next week. Either way, the stakes for the election have dramatically increased

cachurch2 on September 19th, 2020 at 00:24 UTC »

Have you met Republicans?