President Donald Trump will put forth a nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away Friday evening from complications of pancreatic cancer, “in the coming days,” according to sources who spoke to ABC News.
As The Daily Wire reported Friday evening, the 87-year-old Justice Ginsburg passed away “from complications of metastatic pancreas cancer,” according to the Supreme Court.
“Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tired and resolute champion of justice.”
Speculation turned immediately to the vacancy left on the court as a result of Ginsburg’s death, as well as to whether the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would fulfill their promise to nominate a potential replacement immediately and begin Senate confirmation hearings as soon as possible, despite the looming presidential election.
Sources told ABC News that President Trump already has a “short list” of potential nominees and the White House will announce a finalist for the Court vacancy this week. The list includes United States Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a rising star who has been mentioned routinely as a front-runner to fill the next Supreme Court vacancy, despite having just been confirmed to her current position.
“President Donald Trump is expected to put forth a nominee to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat in the coming days, multiple sources close to the president and with direct knowledge of the situation told ABC News,” the outlet reported Friday. “The sources describe the list of potential nominees as very short and including at least one woman. U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett is seen as a leading contender, two sources tell ABC News.”
Barrett, a former clerk for late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The president did release a list of potential Supreme Court nominees earlier this week, but those were listed as “potential” picks for an upcoming vacancy.
ABC News also notes that Senator McConnell is on board with the president’s plans and is preparing his caucus for an impending announcement: “Sources add that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already been in touch with members of the Republican caucus after news of Ginsburg’s passing was announced.”
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), tried to get out ahead of the president’s plans Friday night, suggesting that the White House stick to the so-called “Merrick Garland standard” — a reference to President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February of 2016. McConnell refused to bring Garland’s nomination to the Senate floor, preferring instead to wait for the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice,” Schumer tweeted. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”
National Public Radio reported that Ginsburg’s dying wish was to be replaced by the next president.
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she reportedly told family before passing away.
President Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are both expected to release statements on Ginsburg’s death Friday night.
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