Posted on 09/18/2020 8:20:19 PM PDT by lightman
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death leaves a vacancy on the nation’s highest court, and Sen. Bob Casey Jr. wants the Senate to wait until after the election to vote on her replacement.
Casey, D-Pa., called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to follow the precedent he set four years ago. In 2016, McConnell and Senate Republicans refused a vote on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
“Consistent with the precedent set by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2016, Justice Ginsburg’s seat should not be filled until the presidential election concludes and the candidate chosen by voters is sworn into office," Casey said in a statement late Friday night.
Ginsburg died Friday night at the age of 87. Hours after her death was announced, McConnell said the Senate will indeed vote on a nominee put forward by President Donald Trump.
Obama named Garland as his nominee following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a powerful conservative figure on the court. McConnell said in 2016, the Republican Senate was working with a Democratic president in the final year of his administration. Now, a Republican Senate works with a Republican president.
“President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” McConnell said in a statement issued Friday night.
Now, the timing is different related to the election. Obama submitted Garland’s nomination in March 2016, eight months before the election. This year, a vacancy on the Supreme Court has emerged less than seven weeks until the presidential election.
If Trump submits a nominee, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., looms as a critical vote.
In 2016, Toomey said the Senate shouldn’t vote on Garland’s nomination. He said at the time, the vote on Garland could change the ideological balance of the Supreme Court. Months before the election, Toomey said in an opinion piece Americans should decide on the next president first.
"First, the balance of the Supreme Court is at stake, and we have an election right around the corner. With lifetime tenure, the next justice will determine the Court’s balance for a generation.
“In that light, I believe it is sensible to allow the American people to participate in the choice of Justice Scalia’s successor less than seven months from now.”
Toomey also said he was troubled by aspects of Garland’s record, consistently backing federal environmental regulations in court challenges.
An attempt to reach Toomey’s office for a statement late Friday night was not immediately successful.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the Senate shouldn’t act on a nominee until after the election.
“Tonight, and in the coming days, we should be focused on the loss of Justice Ginsburg and her enduring legacy," Biden said in a statement. “But just so there is no doubt, let me be clear: The voters should pick a President, and that President should select a successor to Justice Ginsburg."
“This was the position that the Republican Senate took in 2016, when there were nearly nine months before the election," Biden said. "That is the position the United States Senate must take now, when the election is less than two months away. We are talking about the Constitution and the Supreme Court. That institution should not be subject to politics.”
This is ridiculous. Trump’s term, as with every other president, is four years long, no matter what happens in the election. Not three years and nine months...FOUR years. He has the full authority of the presidency for every day of that four years, and should use it.
Trump doesn’t care what Casey wants. Casey voted for impeachment.
GFY Azzhat!
Wait - a dem doesn’t want to replace RBG in time to ensure SCOTUS won’t allow the election to be stolen?
Say it isn’t so...
Ah Bobby Casey, it’s a toss-up for the dumbest US Senator between him and Patty Murray.
For unexplained reasons, Pennsylvanians elected him because they liked his father, Gov Bob Casey, who, if I remember correctly, staunchly OPPOSED abortion.
Robert Casey, Sr., was the last Pro-life Democrat.
When the DNC muzzled him and forbade him from delivering an anti-abortion message to the convention, like Reagan, I determined that “the party left me” and that big tents were for circuses.
Yup, I used to be a “D”...
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