Democratic senators will hold a conference call at 1 p.m. Saturday to discuss and strategize how they will handle the upcoming battle over filling the vacancy created by Ginsburg’s death Friday.
The meeting was confirmed by two aides on condition of anonymity to discuss a private call.
Because of Senate rules, the 47 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus have little power to block a confirmation hearing and vote, absent Republican defections. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately told his members in a letter circulated Friday night to keep their powder dry on where they stand on proceeding with a confirmation fight this year.
McConnell has said this year is different because the White House and the Senate were controlled by different parties in 2016, which is not the case this year.
Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally who is up for reelection this fall, said nothing about a timeline for holding confirmation proceedings for Ginsburg’s successor in his statement Friday night.
“Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer who possessed tremendous passion for her causes. She served with honor and distinction as a member of the Supreme Court,” Graham said. “While I had many differences with her on legal philosophy, I appreciate her service to our nation.”
In the past, Graham himself has said he would not support processing a nominee in a year when Trump was on the ballot.
“If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election,” Graham said at an event hosted by the Atlantic magazine in October 2018. He made similar remarks in March 2016, when he said if a Republican was elected later that year and a vacancy occurred in the last year of their first term, “you can say, ‘Lindsey O. Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.’ ”
Ocasio-Cortez says Ginsburg’s death should ‘radicalize you’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is urging her social media followers to let Ginsburg’s death “radicalize you" ahead of the November election.
In an Instagram live video Friday night, the freshman lawmaker with celebrity status said the Supreme Court vacancy underscored what is at stake in November.
“Let this moment radicalize you,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Let this moment really put everything into stark focus because this election has always been about the fight of and for our lives. And if anything, tonight is making that more clear to more people than ever before.”
**********She also cited McConnell’s intention to put a Trump nominee on the court rather than wait until the next president is elected, as Ginsburg urged shortly before her death.***********
"If Mitch McConnell is not going to honor RBG’s final wish, we will,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
By John Wagner
4:09 a.m.
A handful of GOP senators being closely watched
The views of a handful of Republican senators will be closely watched in coming days to determine whether McConnell will have the votes to muscle through a Ginsburg replacement either before the election of in a lame-duck session afterward.
Republicans have an effective 53-to-47 majority in the Senate, and with the Senate having abolished the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court justices early in Trump’s presidency, that means they can afford to lose three votes and still confirm a new justice, given Vice President Pence would break any ties. Four departures very likely means the new nominee would fail.
[The GOP senators who will decide on Ginsburg’s vacancy]
At least two GOP senators indicated in interviews before Ginsburg’s death that they would not support filling a Supreme Court vacancy so close to Election Day. And in Arizona, where Democrat Mark Kelly is leading incumbent GOP Sen. Martha McSally, the winner may be sworn into his or her term during a lame-duck session, altering the current 53-47 Republican control of the Senate if Kelly does prevail on Nov. 3.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a perennial swing vote on contentious confirmation fights, told the New York Times earlier this month that she would not support voting to confirm a new justice in October, saying, “I think that’s too close, I really do.”
And in an interview with Alaska Public Media that occurred Friday ahead of the news of Ginsburg’s death, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — another consistent swing vote — said she would not vote to confirm a justice before the election, either.
In his statement Friday, McConnell pointedly did not lay out a timetable for the confirmation vote, namely whether he would try to hold it before the Nov. 3 elections or whether it would be in the final weeks of the year, before the swearing-in of a new Senate in January.
Trump orders flags at half-staff in proclamation
In a proclamation early Saturday, Trump ordered flags at the White House and other federal property to fly at half staff until Ginsburg’s burial as a "mark of respect.”
“Today, our Nation mourns the loss of a trailblazer, not only in the field of law, but in the history of our country,” the proclamation said.
“Renowned for her powerful dissents at the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg epitomized powerful yet respectful argument; that you can disagree with someone without being disagreeable to them,” it said. “Justice Ginsburg’s work helped bring about greater equality for women, secure rights for the disabled, and will continue to influence our Nation for generations to come. In addition to her quick mind, she brought flair to the bench with her stylish jabots and her warm friendships among colleagues, even those with whom she often disagreed, most notably with the late Justice Antonin Scalia.”
Pence says Ginsburg ‘reshaped our national life’
Vice President Pence called Ginsburg a “true public servant” who “reshaped our national life” in a statement early Saturday morning that was silent on the timing of a replacement.
“Justice Ginsburg led an inspiring life, and her storied career paved the way for women in the law,” Pence said. “As an advocate and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, she was a champion for women whose tireless determination reshaped our national life. A fierce defender of her judicial philosophy, Justice Ginsburg will always be remembered as a jurist who respected and commanded the respect of all her colleagues.”
“Karen and I offer our prayers and condolences to the family, friends, and many admirers of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” Pence added.
The average time to confirm a Supreme Court justice: 71 days
By Kevin Uhrmacher
4:01 a.m.
In final public statement, Ginsburg says advocating for women’s rights was her ‘great good fortune’
In what appears to be her last public statement, Ginsburg said she was lucky to fight for women’s rights alongside generations of others who did so when society was not yet willing to change.
“It was my great good fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the long effort to place equal citizenship stature for women on the basic human rights agenda,” Ginsburg said in response to receiving the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal on Thursday. “In that regard, I was scarcely an innovator.”
Ginsburg said that when she worked as a lawyer in the late 1960s and the 1970s, people generally responded well to arguments that the world would benefit from removing barriers to women’s participation in fields ranging from bartending to piloting planes.
“Helping to explain what was wrong about the closed-door era was enormously satisfying,” Ginsburg said.
Ginsburg noted in her statement that former Supreme Court justices Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy had also received Liberty Medals from the National Constitution Center, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that aims to promote education and debate about the U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.
The Constitution Center plans to distribute $100,000 that accompanies the Liberty Medal to charities that Ginsburg designated, she said. She did not identify the organizations.
By Marisa Iati
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Updated September 19, 2020
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the high court and a legal pioneer for gender equality whose fierce opinions as a justice made her a hero to the left, died Sept. 18 at her home in Washington. She was 87.
Live updates: Battle over the replacement of Ruth Bader Ginsburg begins as tributes to late justice pour in
The latest: McConnell vows Trump’s Supreme Court nominee will get a Senate vote | Analysis: Why McConnell intends to confirm a new justice now, when he wouldn’t in 2016
Photos: The life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Photos: Crowds gather at Supreme Court to mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/19/ruth-bader-ginsburg-death/
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
| 
