President Trump Can and Must Appoint, and the Senate Should Confirm a New Supreme Court Justice Before the Election

In the wake of the news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away this weekend, President Trump has said that he will make a nomination this week, likely on Saturday.

While the death of a venerable Justice like Ginsburg should have been a time for national mourning and reflection, the news media immediately engaged in all manner of political hyperbole over what should be done with her vacant seat. The Left immediately began challenging the President’s authority to name a new justice at all, demanding he wait for a “new” President.

For his own part, the President rightfully said he wants to pay respect to Justice Ginsburg and wait until her funeral services are held before making such an announcement.  While speaking with Fox News, President Trump said his pick would likely come at the end of the week:

I think it will be on . . . Saturday, and we want to pay respect. It looks like we will have, probably, services on Thursday or Friday, as I understand it, and I think in all due respect we should wait until the services are over for Justice Ginsburg, so we’re looking at probably . . . Saturday.

He later confirmed on Twitter that the announcement will come on Saturday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who paid tribute to Justice Ginsburg in an official statement, praising her “intelligence and determination,” seemed confident that President Trump would nominate a candidate to be the new Supreme Court justice sooner than later. Sen. McConnell concluded his statement by saying: "President Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

Of course, almost as if not even pausing to mourn Justice Ginsburg, the Left immediately began jumping up and down, essentially screaming, you wouldn’t let Obama select a Justice, so now you can’t until after the election.

It’s true that even the ACLJ opposed the Senate confirming former President Barack Obama’s nominee back in 2016 after the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. But 2016 was an entirely different situation. For starters, President Obama was the outgoing President. His second term was ending. It would be hard to imagine any President having a Supreme Court nominee confirmed during an election year when the opposing party had majority control of the Senate, as was the case in 2016.

But even so, the U.S. Senate certainly could have confirmed a nominee at this point. In fact, under Article II, Section 2, the U.S. Senate is free to confirm and also free to not confirm. If that were not the case, the U.S. Senate really would have no role whatsoever. In 2016, the Senate the American people had in place was a check on the sitting president. Today, in 2020, the Senate the American people have in place is a confirmation of the sitting President.

This isn’t 2016. The situation is not the same. President Trump is still President of the United States and has a duty to represent the country. And the Senate majority is from his party. With the President running for re-election – not “outgoing” as was the case with Obama – he could very well be President and represent the American people for another four years. In fact, the American people will have the opportunity to vote for or against the President’s re-election based on his choice for the Supreme Court.

His nomination will be carefully chosen from a previously announced list of candidates, and will be selected based on their qualifications, experience, and commitment to faithfully interpreting and upholding our Constitution.

We’ve said it over and over again: Elections have consequences. And never has it been more relevant than right now, a little more than a month away from what may be one of the most important presidential elections in decades. And this nomination has the potential to change the Supreme Court for a generation.

We have respect for Justice Ginsburg as a jurist and member of the Supreme Court, but the fact of the matter is she was a champion for the abortion lobby. In fact, Planned Parenthood just posted an article on its website celebrating her.

The Left wants to tear down our traditional, conservative republic and replace it with an extremist socialist agenda.  It wants abortion on demand, at any point right up to the moment of birth, and paid for by American taxpayers. It wants to defund the police. It wants to abolish history in the classroom and demonize our Founding Fathers. And now it wants to block President Trump from being able to exercise his constitutional right to nominate a qualified judge to the Supreme Court, because it fears another constitutional conservative justice taking Justice Ginsburg’s seat.

Fortunately, it looks as though the Senate has the necessary number of votes to confirm a qualified conservative nominee from President Trump prior to the election. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham addressed the Left’s attempts to stop a nomination before the election, making it clear the Senate plans to move forward:

I've seen this move before. It's not going to work. . . . We've got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg's replacement before the election. We're going to move forward in the committee. We're going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election.

This will be President Trump’s third Supreme Court nomination in one term. Imagine what the Court would look like if someone else were currently in the White House. It could possibly be the most extreme, far-Left Supreme Court in our nation’s history. Thankfully, the President has demonstrated his commitment to appointing constitutionalist justices to the Supreme Court, with his selections of Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh. We trust the President will continue to appoint justices who support and defend the Constitution as it was written.

But mark my words. This will be a war. We must prepare for whatever vicious attacks the Left tries to level against this nominee. The ACLJ will be closely monitoring this situation and our team will be prepared to take action to support the confirmation process if necessary.

Stand with us. Demand a new conservative justice to the Supreme Court.