Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released a statement following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, on Friday evening, in which he both honored the justice’s trailblazing legacy in American life and vowed to hold a vote for a Supreme Court nominee to replace her.
“The Senate and the nation mourn the sudden passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life,” said McConnell in a statement Friday evening. “Justice Ginsburg overcame one personal challenge and professional barrier after another. She climbed from a modest Brooklyn upbringing to a seat on our nation’s highest court and into the pages of American history.”
“Justice Ginsburg was thoroughly dedicated to the legal profession and to her 27 years of service on the Supreme Court,” he continued. “Her intelligence and determination earned her respect and admiration throughout the legal world, and indeed throughout the entire nation, which now grieves alongside her family, friends, and colleagues.”
After offering remarks on Ginsburg’s life, the Republican Senate Majority Leader mentioned the Supreme Court nomination process that played out after Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016. McConnell then vowed to bring a Supreme Court nominee of President Donald Trump’s up for a vote in the Senate. (As of publication, the White House has not announced one, but ABC News, citing several sources, reports that a Supreme Court nominee may be coming in the next few days).
“In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year,” McConnell continued.
“By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promises,” McConnell said, concluding: “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United State Senate.”
The Senate and the nation mourn the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/NOwYLhDxIk
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) September 19, 2020
According to ABC News, “multiple sources close to the president and with direct knowledge of the situation” believe Trump will nominate someone to fill the Supreme Court vacancy in the coming days. At the time the report was published, it wasn’t clear whether the president was aware Ginsburg had died, as he was in the middle of a rally.
Earlier this month, Trump released a list of twenty additional potential Supreme Court picks, which included three sitting U.S. senators. The new additions can be viewed here.
Two members on the list, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), have expressed that they are not interested in the position. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested that he was open to the idea of serving on the court.