Tag: Mitch McConnell

Majority says winner of presidential election should nominate next Supreme Court justice, Post-ABC poll finds

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A majority of Americans oppose efforts by President Trump and the Republican-led Senate to fill a Supreme Court vacancy before the presidential election, with most supporters of Democratic candidate Joe Biden saying the issue has raised the stakes of the election, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The Post-ABC poll, conducted Monday to Thursday, finds 38 percent of Americans say the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week, should be nominated by Trump and confirmed by the current Senate, while 57 percent say it should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year.

Partisans are deeply divided on the issue, though clear majorities of political independents (61 percent) and women (64 percent) say the next justice should be chosen by the winner of this fall’s election, including about half of each group who feel this way “strongly.” Continue reading.

McConnell is blocking 400 bills Americans want — but he’s rushing a Supreme Court pick

McConnell has blocked everything from legislation to help unemployed workers to a bipartisan background check bill for gun sales.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made pushing through Donald Trump’s judicial nominees almost his singular focus of the past two years, confirming Trump’s court picks at a rapid clip while blocking a slew of bills the Democratic-controlled House has passed.

Now, less than six weeks before the presidential election, McConnell has vowed to ram through a Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — prioritizing filling the seat over helping Americans struggling to find work in the midst of the coronavirus-fueled economic depression.

Back in February 2016, when conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, McConnell refused to give President Barack Obama’s nominee Judge Merrick Garland a hearing, let alone a vote on the Senate floor. McConnell said a justice should not be confirmed in an election year, and that the next president should get to pick the nominee. Continue reading.

McConnell pushes back on Trump: ‘There will be an orderly transition’

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Thursday that there would be an “orderly” transition of power in 2021, after President Trumprefused to commit to a peaceful handoff of power if he loses in November. 

“The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792,” McConnell said in a tweet.  

Trump set off a political firestorm on Wednesday when he told reporters at the White House, when asked if he would commit to ensuring a peaceful transition of power if he loses in November, that he would have to “see what happens” and tried once again to sow doubt about the security of mail-in ballots.  Continue reading.

Can Trump and McConnell get through the 4 steps to seat a Supreme Court justice in just 6 weeks?

United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Sept. 18, thrusting the acrimonious struggle for control of the Supreme Court into public view.

President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have already vowed to nominate and confirm a replacement for the 87-year-old justice and women’s rights icon.

This contradicts the justification the Republican-controlled Senate used when they refused to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s pick for the Court after the death of Antonin Scalia in February 2016. Continue reading.

McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight

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Republican senators are coalescing behind Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s (R-Ky.) vow to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

A number of GOP senators, including both retiring members and vulnerable incumbents, are backing McConnell’s promise to hold a vote on whomever President Trump nominates, underscoring Republicans’ desire to fill the seat even as they face charges of hypocrisy from Democrats and pushback from some of their own colleagues. 

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who is retiring at the end of the year, said on Sunday that he would support filling the seat this year, though he’ll make a decision on the nominee once Trump names his pick.  Continue reading.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she doesn’t support filling Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat before the election

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President Trump said Saturday that he expects to announce his nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this week, putting him on track to announce his decision before the first presidential debate with Joe Biden on Sept. 29.

He said he intends to pick a woman for the seat.

“It will be a woman — a very talented, very brilliant woman,” Trump told supporters at an evening campaign rally in North Carolina. “We haven’t chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list.” Continue reading.

Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day

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Momentum is growing among Senate Republicans for a Supreme Court confirmation vote to take place before Election Day, something that GOP strategists say would rev up conservative voters and deliver a huge accomplishment for President Trump before voters go to the polls.

As of Saturday afternoon, Senate Republicans had yet to have a conferencewide call on the vacancy created by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but already a number of GOP lawmakers are publicly and privately making the case for a vote before Nov. 3 instead of in the lame-duck session.

“The logistics are getting it done before the election are very difficult. That is very fast. But it’s not unusually fast. [Late Justice] John Paul Stevens was confirmed in 19 days, and anyone picked is going to be recently voted on,” said a senior Senate Republican aide, who predicted that Trump would chose a conservative appellate court judge. Continue reading.

Shadow of Merrick Garland Hangs Over the Next Supreme Court Fight

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The fight over the confirmation of Judge Garland in 2016 set the tone for an even more brutal battle over who should succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

WASHINGTON — On a Saturday evening in February 2016, just hours after Justice Antonin Scalia died during a hunting trip, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, interrupted a Caribbean vacation to draw a line in the sand.

“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice,” he said. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

At that very moment, Mr. McConnell changed the course of the court and every future confirmation battle to come. By the time President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick B. Garland — a mild-mannered jurist with impeccable credentials, a moderate record and fans across the ideological spectrum — the Washington apparatus that gears up around Supreme Court nominations no longer felt quite the same. Continue reading.

Trump signals he will move to replace Ginsburg ‘without delay’

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President Trump on Saturday signaled he will quickly move to nominate a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, setting up an explosive Senate fight just weeks before the election.

“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,” Trump tweeted, tagging the Republican Party. “We have this obligation, without delay!”

The tweet marked the first indication Trump has given since Ginsburg’s death on Friday that he will seek to replace her on the court before Election Day. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the Senate would vote to confirm a Trump nominee to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a statement released an hour after her death, but it’s unclear whether he can convince a majority of his colleagues to do so.

While several GOP senators on Friday evening were saying that a vote should go forward, some were notably silent on the issue.

McConnell can only afford three defections on what would be one of the most controversial Senate votes in history. Continue reading.