Senator Joe Manchin says the country needs to take time to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and that there should be no vote on her replacement before Election Day.
“I think what we should do is take time to mourn and celebrate Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life,” Manchin, D-W.Va., said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
Manchin added, “Let the election happen and see where we go from there.”
.@BradMcElhinny speaks with @HoppyKercheval about the recent news regarding the comments by a Marshall University professor, and what actions have been taken towards that professor. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/2gZZDEVsyr
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) September 21, 2020
Ginsburg, an 87-year-old justice and progressive icon, died Friday. She is expected to lie in repose at the Supreme Court for two days, then lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, then would be buried at Arlington National Ceremony.
Almost immediately, intense controversy broke out over the timeline for replacing Ginsburg on the court with the General Election less than two months away.
On Friday night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” But he did not specify a timeline.
This morning, Trump said he would probably nominate a replacement for Ginsburg on Friday or Saturday.
“We have the presidency and the Senate and we have plenty of time,” Trump said on Fox & Friends. “I think that would be good for the Republican Party, and I think it would be good for everybody to get it over with.”
Voting for the General Election has already started in some states. West Virginia’s early voting period begins Oct. 21.
After Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb. 13, 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy on March 16, 2016.
McConnell and the Senate’s GOP majority did not have any hearings on Garland’s nomination.
“Given that we are in the midst of the presidential election process, we believe that the American people should seize the opportunity to weigh in on whom they trust to nominate the next person for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court,” McConnell wrote in a 2016 op-ed with then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa
“It is today the American people, rather than a lame-duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election, who should be afforded the opportunity to replace Justice Scalia.”
Now McConnell is saying the pick should get a vote because the current president and the Senate majority represent the same party and are likely to be in agreement.
“Americans re-elected 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,” McConnell said in a statement on Friday night. “Once again, we will keep our promise.”
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., a member of the majority caucus, issued a statement on Friday in appreciation for Ginsburg’s contributions but has not yet commented on the timeline for a new nominee.
On March 16, 2016, Capito said the election cycle should be concluded before the Supreme Court nominee was considered.
“Before a Supreme Court justice is confirmed to a lifetime position on the bench, West Virginians and the American people should have the ability to weigh in at the ballot box this November. My position does not change with the naming of a nominee today,” Capito said in 2016.
Manchin in 2016 said he wanted to hear from Garland.
“I look forward to meeting with Merrick Garland, examining his record, and determining whether his judicial philosophy is in the mainstream,” Manchin stated on March 16, 2016. “This can only happen if the vetting process is allowed to proceed. Which I am hopeful it will.”
Today, Manchin described a difference between March of election season and a period less than two months before the General Election.
“Look at the time then. Look at the time now,” Manchin said.
He later added, “I’m just saying we should not vote right now this close to the election.”
But he said he would consider the nominee.
“If they bring someone up, I’m gonna meet with them absolutely,” Manchin said.
“My vote depends on the qualifications of the person and the judicial background of the person.”
Manchin also appeared on other news programs today, including MSNBC. “I really think the argument is going to be about the American people holding people accountable for what they’ve said,” Manchin said.
“It’ll be the pressure from back home. If people back home say ‘You told me one thing, now you’re telling me something else’ — height of hypocrisy.”
Sen. Manchin discusses the fight brewing over filling the late Justice Ginsburg's SCOTUS seat:
"I'm gonna do everything I can to keep this Senate in the spirit of our Founding Fathers, bipartisan."https://t.co/Ticzvw834d
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 21, 2020