At a vigil for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Saturday night led hundreds in a chant of “I will fight,” and delivered a speech warning that American democracy was at stake as President Donald Trump geared up to nominate Ginsburg’s replacement.
Warren’s remarks came a night after Ginsburg died at 87 from complications of metastatic pancreas cancer. NBC News reported that the longtime justice said her “most fervent wish” was not to be replaced until a new president sat in the White House, and hundreds who’d gathered at the candlelight vigil held signs reading “Honor RBG” and “Honor Her Wish."
“Our very democracy is on the line,” Warren told the crowd in front of a sign with Ginsburg’s image and the words “no confirmation until inauguration.”
“Four years ago, (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell told us that there would be no vote in the U.S. Senate on a Supreme Court nominee because our president had only one year in office, and every republican stood with him," Warren said. "Today, Mitch McConnell and his henchmen believe that they can ram through a Supreme Court justice only 45 days from the election.”
McConnell, who in 2016 led Republicans' block of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, said Friday that the president’s nominee to replace Ginsburg would get a vote in the Senate.
“Mitch McConnell believes that this fight is over,” Warren added. “What Mitch McConnell does not understand is this fight has just begun.”
Warren noted that Ginsburg had helped secure the rights of women to organize and helped to protect immigrants, leading gatherers in a chant, “I will fight.”
Democrats argue that it’s hypocritical if Republicans vote on a Supreme Court justice nominee so close to an election.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, known for her bipartisanship and independence and facing a tough primary fight from Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, said Saturday she would “have no objection” to the Senate Judiciary Committee starting the process of reviewing the credentials of Trump’s nominee. But she said does “not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election.”
“In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the president or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the president who is elected on Nov. 3.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska recently said she would not vote to confirm a Supreme Court nominee so close to an election. Sen. Mitt Romney, the only GOP senator who voted to convict Trump on one of the impeachment charges against him, has not addressed whether he’d vote on a nominee.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who recently came out in support of Collins, weighed into the Supreme Court discussion on Saturday morning. He mourned the loss of Ginsburg for the court and “the entire nation,” and urged Trump and the Senate “to allow the American people to cast their ballots for president before a new justice is nominated or confirmed. The Supreme Court is too important to rush and must be removed from partisan political infighting."
Trump, honing in on one of his campaign promises to secure conservatives to the bench, called it an “obligation” to nominate a justice.
“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 said on Saturday. “We have this obligation, without delay!”
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