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US President Donald Trump has said he would nominate a woman to succeed the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The president’s desire to “move quickly” through the process, despite vehement opposition from Democrats, is likely to dominate the campaigns, along with other burning issues like the coronavirus and America’s current racial reckoning, before of the November 3 elections.
“I think it will actually move fast,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, adding that he thought he would make his decision “next week.”
Addressing a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina last night, he conducted an impromptu poll of the crowd, asking them to cheer on a woman or man to be their choice. The crowd cheered considerably more for the former.
“It’s a very accurate poll because that’s how I feel. It will be a woman. A very talented, very bright woman, who I haven’t chosen yet, but we have a lot of women on the list.”
Ginsburg, 87, immensely popular with Democrats, died Friday after a long battle with cancer.
His death, just weeks before the presidential election, offers Republicans a chance to secure a conservative majority for decades to come, in a court where judges are appointed for life.
The stakes are high, as the decision could affect such important issues as abortion, healthcare, gun control and gay rights.
They are pushed even higher in a bitter election year when justices can play a decisive role in legal disputes over a controversial outcome, such as when they ruled in favor of George W. Bush to end the 2000 election debacle.
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg dies at 87
Hundreds of people gather at the United States Supreme Court to pay tribute to RBG
Trump urges Supreme Court replacement ‘without delay’
Trump already appointed two justices during his tenure as president, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, which gave the Conservatives a 5-4 majority before Ginsburg’s death, though that doesn’t guarantee a ruling in Trump’s favor; There have been several recent examples of the Conservatives’ position with their progressive colleagues.
Trump, who lags behind Democratic opponent Joe Biden in the polls, has another powerful incentive to keep going: to provide a jolt of enthusiasm among his evangelical and anti-abortion supporters.
But, 45 days before the election and early voting has begun in some states, galvanized Democrats are backing down furiously.
Biden said Friday that “the voters must choose the president and the president must choose the judge for the Senate to consider.”
While Democrats’ options seem limited, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told party members Saturday that if Republicans push, then “nothing is off the table,” according to reports from the media.
“This vacancy shouldn’t be filled until we have a new president,” Schumer said Friday, carefully repeating the words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2016 when he blocked Obama’s candidate Merrick Garland.
Republicans, in theory, have the Senate votes to pass a Trump candidate, but they could only be blocked by a handful of defections.
Republican Senator Susan Collins became the first to break ranks when she announced Saturday that she would not support a vote on any Trump candidate before the election.
The Maine legislator is among a handful of moderate Republican senators, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have already expressed doubts about a hasty vote.
“I totally disagree with her,” Trump said of Collins’ position, referring to his 2016 election, adding that “we have an obligation as winners to choose who we want.”
A prominent Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will oversee the confirmation hearings, is none other than Senator Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate.
Trump has already appointed dozens of conservatives as federal judges, and Democrats fear a deep and lasting balance shift on the Supreme Court.
“If he is allowed to bring in more conservatives, this will be disastrous for the next 40 to 50 years,” Gloria Browne-Marshall, a civil rights attorney, said on CNN.
Analysts predicted that Democrats would do everything possible to prolong the process while stoking public outrage.
“His option is to build a wave … to try to convince at least four Republican senators to vote ‘no’ for whoever the president is running,” Amy Howe, co-founder of a Supreme Court blog, said on CNN. .
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