Updated: September 20, 2020 10:19:35 am
People gather in the Supreme Court on Friday, September 18, 2020, in Washington, after the Supreme Court announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. (AP Photo: Alex Brandon)
Hours after imposing feminist, justice of the United States Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, the Republican party said it would take steps to fill its vacant court seat, despite the fact that the November 3 presidential election is less than two months away.
Mitch McConnell, Republican Party Leader in the US Senate, said: “Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we committed to working with President Trump and supporting his agenda, particularly his prominent appointments. for the federal government. judiciary … President Trump’s candidate will receive a vote in the plenary session of the United States Senate. “
The statement has caused a rage among the Democrats, which accuse Republicans of backtracking from the position they took in 2016, when President Barack Obama-appointed Judge Merrick Garland did not receive a vote in the Senate because the vacancy had arisen in the last year of the presidency of Obama.
How are the justices of the United States Supreme Court selected?
Unlike India, where judges appoint judges under the Collegium system, the 9-judge US Supreme Court candidates are directly elected by politicians. The White House nominates the judges and the United States Senate, the upper house of the United States Congress, confirms them. Currently, the Republican Party controls both the Senate and the presidency.
Additionally, in the US, Supreme Court justices can serve for life, making the court’s division between liberals and conservatives very important for decades. The oldest member of the court in history, Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., retired in 1932 at the age of 90 after his 30th birthday. Judge Ginsburg was 87 years old and was on the bench for 27 years.
Read also | Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Most Important Trials and Disputes
What happened to Judge Garland in 2016?
When a seat on the Supreme Court became vacant in February 2016 after the death of prominent Conservative jurist Justice Antonin Scalia, President Barack Obama, then in the last year of his presidency, nominated the highly respected Moderate Justice Merrick Garland to take over Scalia. place on the court.
The Senate and the nation mourn the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the end of her extraordinary American life.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/NOwYLhDxIk
– Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) September 19, 2020
At the time, although the White House was in Democratic hands, the Senate had a Republican majority, and Republican leaders said they would not hold hearings or schedule a vote for Garland with less than a year remaining until the November 2016 election.
Despite furious complaints from Democratic leaders, Garland, then (and still) Chief Justice of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, became the first candidate in more than a hundred years to be denied a Senate audience, and was completely bypassed after the Republicans won. the 2016 race.
Since President Trump’s election, Republicans have taken Scalia’s seat and added one more justice to the Supreme Court, bringing the number of Conservatives on the bench to five, with four progressives.
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Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at the age of 87 (The New York Times: TJ Kirkpatrick).
What are the Republicans saying now?
Long before Ginsburg’s death, Republican leader McConnell stunned Democrats after declaring his party’s intention to move on and add another judge to the court should a vacancy arise in 2020, despite being a year old. electoral.
Republicans explained this radical change by saying that in 2016, although Obama was in the White House, it was his party that had been given a majority in the Senate only two years earlier during the 2014 midterm elections, so the American people had the right to decide the next Supreme Court justice, not a divided Washington.
Republicans have defended their new position, saying that this time, their party controls both the White House and the Senate.
Don’t miss Explained | US Presidential Elections: In Trump 2020, Echo of Nixon 1968
The American flag is lowered to half mast on Friday, September 18, 2020 in Washington. (AP Photo: Alex Brandon)
How have the Democrats reacted?
Democrats, who have been outraged by what they believe was a “theft” of Garland’s seat, have reacted strongly to McConnell’s statement.
Before her death, Ginsburg herself said, “My fondest wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” according to National Public Radio (NPR).
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said: “Let me be clear: the voters must choose the president and the president must choose the judge for the Senate to consider.” He added that this was the original Republican position.
“The (presidential) election is only 46 days off. The fastest justice ever confirmed was in 47 days, with the average approaching 70 days. Therefore, this must be done with full consideration. “
Former President Barack Obama echoed Biden, saying: “A basic principle of the law, and of everyday justice, is that we apply the rules consistently and not on the basis of what is convenient or advantageous at the time.”
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