“@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Ginsburg’s death — and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s subsequent statement Friday that “Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate” — opens up a political fight over the future of the court less than two months before Election Day on November 3. The vacancy on the bench creates what many conservatives view as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move the makeup of the court from its current split of five conservative justices and four liberal justices to a more dominant 6-3 majority.
CNN previously reported that the President had been “salivating” to nominate a replacement for the liberal justice even before Ginsburg’s death Friday and the possibility of picking her successor has weighed on his mind, according to a source close to the President.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
