Ruth Bader Ginsburg death: Mitch McConnell says Senate will vote on Trump’s nominee

 (Independent)
(Independent)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced that the Republican-controlled body will hold a vote to consider Donald Trump’s appointment to the US Supreme Court in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.

“Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary,” he said in a statement. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."

The Kentucky Republican sought to block former president Barack Obama’s appointment to the nation’s high court in 2016 following the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in February of that year.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer invoked Senator McConnell’s own words in the New York Democrat’s demands that the Senate delay filling the vacancy until after the results of the 2020 election, just six weeks away.

His response: “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.”

It would require 51 votes to confirm a nominee.

The president recently unveiled his updated list of likely nominees, including sitting Republican senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.