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After the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg: This is how important the vacant judge's post is for America's future

2020-09-19T17:04:52.596Z


The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg leads to a vacancy at the US Supreme Court. What is Donald Trump doing now, what is the Senate doing? The decision about the successor could shape the country for decades.


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Washington Supreme Court: flag at half mast

Photo: CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS

The respect for Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life achievement was great, as the reactions to her death showed not least.

Ex-President Barack Obama called the judge a "warrior for gender equality" who, despite her cancer, fought to the end "for our democracy and its ideals".

Joe Biden, Obama's former runner-up and current Democratic candidate in the November presidential election, praised her as a "voice for freedom" who fought relentlessly for civil rights.

Biden's opponent, President Donald Trump, called Bader Ginsburg a "titan of law".

Supreme Court judges are appointed for life.

Filling one of the nine posts at the Supreme Court could have consequences for political and social life in the country for decades.

That is why the short obituaries for Bader Ginsburg inevitably lead to the question: What is the next step?

An overview.

What is the procedure for filling a judge's post?

According to the US Constitution, Supreme Court justices are appointed by the US President "on the advice and with the consent" of the Senate.

That means: the president nominates a candidate;

then the Senate must approve it with a simple majority, i.e. at least 51 out of 100 votes.

There are currently 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independent senators in the chamber.

The nomination by the president is followed by a two-stage process in the Senate: the proposed candidate is first questioned by the judicial committee.

This is followed by the debate and vote in plenary.

Two mandate holders play a crucial role: the chairman of the judicial committee and, in particular, the majority leader in the chamber, who sets the date for the final vote.

Both posts are currently Republican: Lindsey Graham is Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Mitch McConnell is majority leader.

Will the new appointment be decided in Trump's (first) term of office?

The Democrats absolutely want to prevent that.

Biden, Obama, and Senate Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer all referred to an earlier McConnell decision.

After the death of the conservative judge Antonin Scalia in February 2016, then President Obama nominated the lawyer Merrick Garland as his successor.

McConnell refused to put Garland's personnel to the vote for months.

He referred to the upcoming presidential election in November of the same year.

The Democrats want to remind him of that.

First, the voters should elect a president, said Biden, and only then should he nominate a successor to Bader Ginsburg.

Four and a half years ago, the Republicans "invented the principle" that the Senate should not fill a judge's position in the Supreme Court until a new president is sworn in, wrote Obama - not without bitterness and sarcasm - in his statement on the judge's death.

It is unlikely that McConnell will be impressed.

"The candidate nominated by President Trump will get a vote in the United States Senate," he said shortly after the news of Bader Ginsburg's death.

For his part, Trump wants to act quickly: You have an obligation to nominate a successor "without delay," the president wrote in a tweet addressed to his Republicans.

If the position is to be filled before the election in early November, the Republicans would have to lay down a record pace.

According to the online magazine "Politico", the process takes an average of more than two months.

However, the Senate could also confirm a candidate nominated by Trump in the so-called "lame duck" phase between the election in November and the end of the current session of the chamber in early January.

Who could Trump nominate?

Trump recently published a list of 20 candidates who are eligible.

Republican Senators Ted Cruz from Texas, Tom Cotton from Arkansas and Josh Hawley from Missouri also met there.

Amy Coney Barrett is also traded as the leading contender.

The federal judge is known for her conservative views on abortion and is a favorite of Trump's religious supporters.

Is Trump secure a majority in the Senate?

The Republicans have 53 seats out of 100 and in the event of a stalemate, Trump's Vice President Mike Pence would have the decisive vote.

But several Republicans in the chamber recently spoke out against filling a judge's post at the Supreme Court so shortly before the election.

That goes for the two Senators Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska.

Both are considered moderate, both advocating the right to abortion.

It is unclear whether the two will feel bound by their statement.

Lindsey Graham, chairman of the judiciary committee, also announced in 2018 that he would wait until the next election if there was a vacancy on the Supreme Court in the final year of Trump's tenure.

The heated argument over the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh two years ago reportedly led him to change this position.

In addition, Graham is currently in a tough race to defend his Senate seat in the state of South Carolina against a Democratic challenger.

What would be the significance of filling the post with a Trump candidate?

The decision about who will succeed Bader Ginsburg could have historical significance.

Should your position be filled with a candidate proposed by Trump, this would be - after Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh - already the third "Trump" judge at the Supreme Court. However, this personnel would be even more momentous, since Trump, unlike in his two previous decisions, one would replace a liberal judge with a - most likely - conservative successor.

This would give the Conservatives a six-to-three majority in the Supreme Court - even if the presiding judge John Roberts recently repeatedly overturned.

This could shape the country for decades.

The Supreme Court decides on fundamental issues.

Currently, for example, he deals with the powers of the executive, consumer protection and the subject of abortion.

With the latter in particular, many women fear that their rights will be restricted if Trump and the Senate appoint a hardliner.

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-09-19

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