On the eve of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Supreme Court death, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is said to have urged President Donald Trump to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg, according to a PBS documentary expected to air on Tuesday. Frontline.
Barrett’s nomination was opposed by many Democrats who believed that only the Supreme Court candidate would be nominated before the 2020 presidential election. Democrats have also abandoned Barrett’s conservative attitudes, worried about trying to overthrow the Affordable Supply Act, and Roe v. Wade. Josh Holmes, McConnell’s former chief of staff, said McConnell spoke to Trump soon after Ginsburg passed away.
– McConnell said [Trump] two things, ”Holmes said in the documentary Supreme Revenge: Fight for the Court. “McConnell said I would first issue a statement saying we would fill the vacancy. Second, he said he should nominate Amy Coney Barrett.”
Newsweek commented on McConnell’s office.
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Holmes was McConnell’s chief of staff for three years before leading McConnell’s 2017 re-election campaign. Holmes is currently president of Cavalry, LLC, a policy consulting firm.
McConnell said in September that filling Ginsburg’s chair was “a constitutional obligation,” which will take place while Trump is still in office. “This current Senate, last elected in 2018, will be here by the end of the year and the president will be here until January 20,” McConnell said.
Some lawmakers disagreed with McConnell’s supposed attack on Barrett’s nomination. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins said the new supreme court justice “should be decided by the president elected on Nov. 3.”
Many Democrats hinted that McConnell had previously blocked the appointment of Judge Barack Obama, Judge Merrick Garland, while in the final months of the Obama administration. In 2016, Obama nominated Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. McConnell rejected Garland’s nomination progress until the election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
“The American people can easily elect a president who decides to judge Judge Garland against the Senate,” McConnell said in March 2016. “The next president can also nominate someone who is quite different. Either way, our opinion is: Give a voice to the people.”
Following Barrett’s nomination, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican effort to strengthen Barrett “a monument to hypocrisy” during his October floor speeches.
Despite Democratic opposition, Barrett’s nomination was confirmed. On October 26, Judge Clarence Thomas was sworn in as a associate judge of the Supreme Court at the White House by Barrett.
“My fellow Americans,” Barrett said during the welcoming speech, “although our judges, whom we are not facing in the election, are still working for you. Your constitution defines the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, which is so central to it.”
