Washington, DC — President Trump’s administration has signaled it would be willing to fill a Supreme Court Vacancy before the 2020 Election on November 3rd should a seat be available. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Bill Clinton appointee, has been receiving chemotherapy treatment for a fifth bout with cancer since May.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) confirmed in February that he would fill a vacancy and the White House has echoed that sentiment, according to the Associated Press.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday that,
“I can’t imagine that if he had a vacancy on the Supreme Court that he would not very quickly make the appointment and look for the Senate to take quick action.”
The Daily Caller’s White House correspondent Anders Hagstrom reported late last week that “should a seat open, the situation would be very similar to President Barack Obama’s attempt to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat prior to the 2016 election.
McConnell blocked Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland at the time, arguing the nomination should wait until after the presidential election.” Unlike Republicans in 2016, Senate Democrats are not in a position to block a Trump nomination, assuming Republicans remain lock-step in their attempt.
Last month, Trump announced that he would release a new list of potential conservative SCOTUS nominees.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1273667867523899394?s=20
Trump’s announcement came soon after a pair of SCOTUS decisions that were seen as blows to conservative social and fiscal policies. The court found that LGBT Americans enjoy workplace protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and that Trump had overstepped his authority in attempting to end the DACA immigration program by executive order.
If you recall during the 2016 presidential election, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and President Trump bickered with one another about SCOTUS nominees. Cruz eventually withdrew from the race and endorsed Trump’s candidacy. The deciding factor for Senator Cruz was Trump’s decision to include Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) as a name he would consider nominating.
The White House has not announced any names from the list, but it will likely be similar to the one proffered by The Heritage Foundation in 2016.
The numbers are staggering:
- President Trump has now had 158 judicial nominees confirmed to the Federal bench – a historic transformation of the judiciary.
- President Trump has nominated and had confirmed, two Supreme Court justices, 44 Circuit Court judges, and 112 District Court judges. He has appointed more circuit judges by this point in his presidency than in president in history.
- Additionally, approximately 1 out of every 4 active judges on United States Courts of Appeals is a Trump appointee. According to the White House’s website, this historic transformation is only accelerating, with President Trump on pace to have more judges confirmed this year than in 2017 and 2018 combined.
Trump’s and McConnell’s dedication to nominate and confirm constitutional conservative judges will have a generational impact on the United States. President Trump has said that:
“It is up to us to reclaim our heritage of equal and impartial justice. It is up to us to re-dedicate ourselves to the traditions and wisdom of our Founders.”
You can contact Bennett through The Liberty Loft’s website. Be sure to subscribe to The Liberty Loft’s daily newsletter. If you enjoy our content, please consider donating to support The Liberty Loft so we can continue to deliver great content.