Trump urges the Senate to replace Judge Ginsburg "as soon as possible"

By Sahil Kapur - NBC News

WASHINGTON - The death on Friday of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg has added further turmoil to an already chaotic year as the future of the Supreme Court and American justice is at stake.

As tributes to the magistrate and legendary feminist icon multiplied, an important question loomed over the country 45 days before the presidential election: Will President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate confirm a replacement before the next legislature presidential?

In a tweet this Saturday, the president suggested that he would nominate a successor quickly, because for this he "was put in this position of power."

He wrote:

The leader of the majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, said moments after the news of the death of Ginsburg, that "the candidate of President Trump will receive a vote in the plenary session of the United States Senate."

At stake is the future of the court, which at the time of Ginsburg's death had a conservative 5-4 majority on many important issues

.

A majority that could be expanded and consolidated for a generation if Republicans confirm another judge.

The nomination battle over Ginsburg's successor could be unusually bitter.

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The last wish of Ginsburg, the leader of the liberal wing of the court, passed on to her granddaughter days before and

,

according to NPR.

Citizens gather in the Supreme Court the morning after the death of 87-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, in Washington. AP Photo / J.

Scott applewhite

Democrats demanded that Republicans commit to wait until the next president, Trump or Democratic candidate Joe Biden, takes office in January.

Some cited McConnell's refusal to fill a vacancy under Democratic Barack Obama after the death of Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

"There is no question, make it clear to me, that voters must choose the president and the president must choose the judge for the Senate to consider," Biden said in a brief statement Friday night in Wilmington, Delaware.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, issued a statement that was identical to the one released by McConnell that day: "The American people must have a voice in choosing their next Supreme Court justice. therefore,

"he said.

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On Friday, McConnell defended his 2016 refusal by arguing that the Senate and the White House were controlled by opposing parties, while they are now run by the same party.

It has made it a top priority to swiftly confirm young and conservative judges to appointed positions for life, including Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Getty Images

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, whose committee has jurisdiction over Supreme Court nominations, issued a statement praising Ginsburg as "a trailblazer" who served with honor.

She did not clarify whether she intends to hold hearings for a potential Trump nominee to replace her.

The Senate math is simple: Republicans have 53 seats.

(with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tiebreaker vote).

It was not immediately clear on Friday whether the party would have the votes.

The time frame is short.

.

The most recently confirmed judge, Kavanaugh, took 89 days in 2018. The next Congress and president will not be sworn in until January, leaving a few months dead until then.

The decision to confirm a candidate for the Supreme Court in the final days of the term could provoke an aggressive reaction from Democratic voters, with consequences for Trump's re-election candidacy and the majority of the Senate.

It could create a dilemma for Republican senators in the most contested states

, including Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Senator David Perdue of Georgia and Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa. Democratic Senator Doug Jones of Alabama may also face a tough decision.

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McSally, one of the most politically threatened senators, posted on Twitter: "This United States Senate should vote on President Trump's next candidate for the United States Supreme Court."

Republicans will surely face pressure from their rank and file to fill the vacancy with the idea of ​​repealing the 1973 law in the Roe v. Wade case, which decriminalizes abortion, increases gun rights and limits the authority of Congress in economic regulation.

While the Supreme Court has motivated Republicans more than Democrats at the polls in recent decades, there is evidence of that change this year.

A Pew Research Center poll released last month revealed that 66% of Biden supporters rated the Supreme Court appointments "very important" to their 2020 vote, compared with 61% of Trump supporters.

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Ginsburg's death also means that an eight-member court with five Republican nominations and three Democrats would be tasked with trying post-election disputes that experts say are feasible due to uncertainty over voting changes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump seemed surprised to hear the news

when, after a rally in Minnesota, he was asked to respond to Ginsburg's death.

"She was an amazing woman who led an amazing life," he said.

"It saddens me to hear this," he added.

Trump says Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was "an incredible woman"

Sept.

19, 202000: 53

At least one Democratic senator on Friday suggested retaliating by adding Supreme Court seats if Republicans confirm a vacancy in the final days of Trump's term, an idea others in the party had dropped earlier this summer.

Such a measure would require abolishing obstructionism and passing a law to expand the court.

"Mitch McConnell set the precedent.

" said Senator Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts.

"If it happens, when the Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish obstructionism and expand the Supreme Court."

Brian Fallon, former Schumer spokesperson and founder of the judicial advocacy group Demand Justice, urged Democrats to wage an aggressive fight: "Make no mistake: any Supreme Court with Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat confirmed for a Trump judge in this point on the calendar would be fundamentally illegitimate and Democrats must be prepared to act accordingly. "