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

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerMcConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security Warren, Schumer introduce plan for next president to cancel ,000 in student debt Schumer lashes out at Trump over 'blue states' remark: 'What a disgrace' 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 GinsburgDemocrats, advocates seethe over Florida voting rights ruling Trump's Supreme Court list reveals influence of Clarence Thomas President Nancy Pelosi? Don't underestimate what she might do in office 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 McConnellMcConnell focuses on confirming judicial nominees with COVID-19 talks stalled McConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security Warren, Schumer introduce plan for next president to cancel ,000 in student debt 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 TrumpHR McMaster says president's policy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is 'unwise' Cast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response MORE appointed and the GOP-controlled Senate confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch Neil GorsuchConservatives see glaring omission on Trump's Supreme Court shortlist Cruz says he wouldn't accept Supreme Court nomination Trump's Supreme Court list reveals influence of Clarence Thomas 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 LoefflerDHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Loeffler calls for hearing in wake of Netflix's 'Cuties' Georgia Senate campaign could bring Black political redemption 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 GarlandTop GOP senator calls for Biden to release list of possible Supreme Court picks Biden agenda hinges on Senate majority The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by the Air Line Pilots Association - Biden VP possible next week; Meadows says relief talks 'miles apart' 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 CollinsThe Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally Gideon leads Collins by 12 points in Maine Senate race: poll Senate leaders quash talk of rank-and-file COVID-19 deal 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.