Will Donald Trump Replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg Vacant Seat Before the Election?

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By Nikki Slusher

In a year where the country has been in turmoil from a pandemic and economic recession, along with protests in cities across the nation, now social issues like abortion will become another flame to an already blazing inferno of what is the nation’s politics. A new furious battle over the Supreme Court’s vacancy is the last thing the U.S. needed undoubtedly. One can only hope that Mike Pence’s prayer circles start working soon because we need a huuuuuge miracle as soon as possible.

On Friday, news of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, succumbing to pancreatic cancer swept the country off its feet bringing a major shock to what seemed as already the worst year anyone has ever seen. Only days later there is already a lot of talk on who will be her successor. As RBG was one of the four liberal justices currently serving in the SCOTUS, which leaves her seat open to being filled by President Donald J. Trump. The discussion has already escalated into a political row between Democrats and Republicans.

Being just weeks before the presidential election, Ginsburg’s death has been mourned by many. The second woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a liberal icon and was a powerful voice for the 27 years she served on the court. A feminist and warrior for gender-equality, her legacy led to her nickname as the “Notorious RBG.” Ginsburg’s seat being filled by a conservative will also disrupt the ideological balance that is imperative in the nine-member court’s rulings on the most important issues in the U.S. law.

Being the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court is known for having the final word on widely controversial laws, conflicts between states and the federal government, and the final appeals to stay executions. Over the last few years, the court has expanded gay marriage into all 50 states, authorized the travel bans President Trump implemented, and postponed the U.S. plan to cut carbon emissions while appeals proceeded. With it also ruling on issues like reproductive rights – the conservative flip could bring up room for reversing important decisions, including Roe v. Wade.

While House Democrats, some Republicans, and Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, have stated the seat should not be filled with a replacement until after the election by the new or re-elected president. However, Donald Trump has already stated that he vows to swear in Ginsburg’s successor “without delay.” If successful, Republicans will vote lock in a decades-long conservative majority on the highest court in the country.

During a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Saturday Trump told the crowd, “I will be putting forth a nominee next week. It will be a woman.” He added: “I think it should be a woman because I actually like women more than I like men.” Some of his supporters chanted “Fill that seat!” to urge Trump to take the opportunity to nominate a third justice in just one presidential term for a lifetime appointment.

So, who exactly could replace the “Notorious RBG”? Trump has previously praised two female judges who serve on the federal courts of appeals as possible successors. Judges Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa are both conservatives and will tip the Supreme Court’s balance to be in the favor of Republicans. A third contender, Kate Comerford Todd, has served as the Deputy White House Counsel; she is also the former VP and Chief Counsel for the US Chamber Litigation Center.

Meanwhile the Democrats are pressing the issue of opposing any nomination prior to November’s election. They argued that in 2016 the Senate Republicans blocked Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee for the SCOTUS. At this time, now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited that the move was justified since it was an election year and should not be done until there was a new president.

But to no one’s surprise, on Friday just hours after Ginsburg’s passing Senator McConnell said he intends to act quickly on any nomination Trump selects and vote on the choice before the Senate prior to the election. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” McConnell said in a statement. His change in tune shows that the reason the Senate is now within its right to do so is because it is Republican-controlled, and President Trump is a Republican.

If there was any question if a liberal nominee would be considered, McConnell made the answer very clear – H to the hell no. “Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year,” he said. Additionally, the Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, tweeted repeating Sen. McConnell’s exact phrase, while former VP Joe Biden told reporters: “There is no doubt – let me be clear – that the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the Senate to consider.”

Ginsburg’s last wish may also add to the debate. According to a family statement to National Public Radio, Ginsberg had also made her feelings clear on the issue days before her death. “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she said to her granddaughter, Clara Spera.

It seems as the closer to proximity we get to the election the news just continues to get worse. With a nation so divided, it is uncertain how the decision to appoint or not before the election will affect the current political and social dynamic in the United States. For Washington, this could bring things to a whole different level that has yet to been seen during the chaotic Trump era. Now thrown into the mix is a Supreme Court battle where the outcome may alter American society not only just four years, but for a generation to come.

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