Stefanik: Trump should pick the next Supreme Court justice
North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik says President Donald Trump "constitutionally has the right to put forth a name" to succeed U.S....
Sep 19, 2020 — North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik says President Donald Trump "constitutionally has the right to put forth a name" to succeed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and should do so.
Speaking Saturday at a campaign rally in Potsdam, the two-term Republican called Justice Ginsburg "a role model for multiple generations of women," adding that "people may have disagreed with some of her decisions."
Ginburg, 87, died Friday evening due to complications from pancreatic cancer, setting in motion a massive political battle over who will take her spot on the nation's highest court with just six weeks before the presidential election. Ginsburg was one of the court's most liberal justices. Trump has already nominated two conservative justices during his presidency.
New York Senator and Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer Friday tweeted the exact same words Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used when a Supreme Court vacancy came up in the last year of President Barack Obama's presidency in 2016. "The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said at the time. McConnell blocked the confirmation process until after Trump was elected.
Asked how that situation differs from this one, Stefanik said in 2016, Obama was "a lame duck" Democratic President with a Republican-controlled Senate.
"This is very different when you have a Republican Senate and a Republican President," Stefanik said. "The Senate can move forward with a nomination."
Stefanik’s Democratic challenger, Tedra Cobb, called Justice Ginsburg “a once in a lifetime woman” in a tweet. And she said Stefanik is “putting party over country” in supporting Trump filling the vacancy in the highest court before the election.
Trump tweeted Saturday morning he would nominate a candidate to replace Ginsburg. McConnell said he would call a vote for confirmation, although the timing of the process with the upcoming election remains unclear.
