Trump vows to replace Ginsburg with a woman, and soon

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump vows to run a candidate next week to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, pressuring the Republican-controlled Senate to consider the election without delay.

Taking the stage Saturday night at a North Carolina rally to chants of “Fill that seat,” the president said he would nominate his selection despite objections from Democrats.

And, after conducting what he joked was a “very scientific poll” of the Fayetteville crowd on whether supporters wanted a man or a woman, he declared that the choice would be “a very talented and very bright woman.”

He added that he still didn’t know who he would choose.

“We won an election and those are the consequences,” said the president, who then appeared to indicate that he would be willing to accept a vote on his nominee during the unsuccessful period after the election. “We have a lot of time. We have a lot of time.

We are talking about January 20. “

But a Republican senator had already broken ranks. Susan Collins of Maine, who is in an uphill battle for reelection, said early Saturday that she believed replacing Ginsburg should be up to the president-elect on November 3. It would take three more defections from the Republican ranks to prevent Trump’s nominee from joining the field.

At stake is a seat held by a magistrate for women’s rights who spent her last years on the bench as the undisputed leader of the liberal wing of the court.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He promised to call a vote for Trump’s nominee, but Democrats responded that Republicans must follow the precedent that Republican lawmakers set in 2016 by refusing to consider a Supreme Court election in the run-up to the election.

The imminent showdown over the vacant position, when to fill it and with whom, stirs the final stretch of a presidential race for a nation already reeling from the pandemic that has killed almost 200,000 people, has left millions unemployed and has increased tensions. and partisan anger.

McConnell pledged to Trump in a phone call Friday night to bring the election to a vote, although he has not said if it will be before the election.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said any selection should be made after November 3. “The voters should choose the president and the president should choose the judge to consider,” he said. Biden has promised to nominate a black woman to the high court if given the chance, but has said he will not release the names of potential nominees before the election.

Trump added 20 more names to his list of potential court candidates this month, and his advisers in recent days have focused on a short list with many female candidates, according to four White House advisers and officials close to the process. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.

Those under consideration for the superior court include three women who are federal appeals court judges: Amy Coney Barrett, beloved among conservatives and a top favorite; Barbara Lagoa, who is Hispanic and comes from the battlefield state of Florida; and Allison Jones Rushing, who worked for Judge Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, when the current Trump-appointed judge was an appellate court judge.

At least one man, appeals court judge Amul Thapar, has also been examined. An ally of McConnell from Kentucky, he has been vetted by Trump’s team for past vacancies and would be the first Asian-American on the supreme court.

McConnell, who sets the calendar in the Senate and has made judicial appointments his priority, stated unequivocally in a statement that Trump’s nominee would receive a confirmation vote. In 2016, McConnell refused to consider President Barack Obama’s candidate months before the election, ultimately preventing a vote on Judge Merrick Garland.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called a conference call with Democratic senators at noon Saturday, according to a person on the private call who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. He told senators that “No. 1 objective ”should be to communicate what is at stake in the confirmation vote.

Schumer also warned that if Republicans approve the nominee, “nothing is off the table” for Senate rule changes to come, the person said.

Ginsburg’s death certainly seemed to stoke enthusiasm in both political parties, as the elections could now be seen as a referendum on high court decisions, including the future of abortion rights. Democrats raised more than $ 71 million in the hours after Ginsburg’s death, indicating that his passing has already galvanized the party’s base.

Hundreds of mourners gathered for a second night outside the Supreme Court building, holding candles in honor of Ginsburg and listening to a succession of testimonies and convocation speeches.

Speakers included Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who praised Ginsberg as “an icon, a pioneer and a friend” and accused McConnell of cynically trying to hijack the confirmation process.

“Today, Mitch McConnell and his henchmen believe they can get through a Supreme Court justice just 45 days before the election,” Warren said. “What Mitch McConnell doesn’t understand is that the fight has just started.”

A confirmation vote in the Senate is not guaranteed, even with a Republican majority.

McConnell has launched a risky and unprecedented strategy. It could motivate conservative voters to support Trump and Republican senators, or it could alienate moderates who prefer the Senate to abide by the rules or who fear that a right-wing court will eliminate women’s right to choose an abortion.

It generally takes several months to review and hold hearings on a Supreme Court candidate, with little time before November. Key senators may be reluctant to cast votes this close to elections. With a slim Republican majority, 53 seats in the 100-member chamber, Trump’s election could afford to lose only a few.

McConnell did not specify the time. But attempting confirmation in an unfounded session after the Nov. 3 election, if Trump had lost to Biden or the Republicans had lost the Senate, would lead to further political complications.

Democrats immediately denounced McConnell’s move as hypocritical, noting that he refused to hold hearings for Garland 237 days before the 2016 election. The 2020 election is 46 days away.

The average number of days to confirm a judge, according to the Congressional Investigative Service, is 69, which would be after the election. But some Republicans were quick to note that Ginsburg was confirmed in just 42 days.

Obama waited more than a month to nominate Garland after Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in February 2016.

John Fischetti, who waited in line for more than two hours to enter Trump’s rally in Fayetteville, said replacing Ginsburg would inflame tensions but that it was within the president’s rights.

“I would assume it would make everyone more energized,” Fischetti said of the political fallout. “Trump’s people want him to always keep going.”

Four Republican defections could defeat a nomination, while Vice President Mike Pence could break a tied vote. Following Collins’ decision, the spotlight turned to Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah, who have been critical of Trump and supporters of the institution of the Senate.

And because the Arizona Senate race is a special election, that seat could be filled as of November 30, narrowing the window for McConnell if Democratic nominee Mark Kelly wins.

The upcoming election could shape important decisions beyond abortion rights, including any legal challenges that may arise from the 2020 elections. Meanwhile, if the court took cases with eight judges, 4-4 ties would reverse the decision to one. lower cut; for example, the Affordable Care Act could be struck down by a lower court in Texas.

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