President Donald Trump announced yesterday that his nomination to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court will be announced Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. Ginsburg was a champion for women’s rights and liberal interpretations of the 14th Amendment’s application to gender discrimination. She died Sep. 18 from pancreatic cancer after serving 27 years on the nation’s highest court.

Around 120 of Ginsburg’s former law clerks, awaiting her casket’s arrival, lined up at the entrance to the Supreme Court where a private ceremony was held Sept. 23. Visitors can pay their respects to Ginsburg on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 as she lies in repose, her casket resting on a platform originally built for former President Abraham Lincoln. She will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 25, which marks the first time a woman will be honored this way.

The Republican Party announced they will pursue the nomination and confirmation of a new associate justice as soon as the public services conclude Sept. 25. This was met with distaste from the Democratic Party, as a confirmation for a justice before Nov. 3 would disregard Ginsburg’s own “most fervent wish” to have her seat replaced only after a new president is elected.

The previous actions of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are also coming to light, since the two refused to hold a hearing in 2016 for then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. The GOP decision argued the timing was too close to the 2016 general election, which was about nine months away. Despite the 2020 election being 41 days away, McConnell and Graham have now backtracked on their words.

“Those of us who believe in integrity and consistency are always disappointed. As with Merrick Garland, Mitch McConnell wants his way,” said Fred Smoller, a Chapman campaigns and elections professor. “The argument Republicans made is that people should have a voice, so if it held in 2016, six to nine months ahead of the election, shouldn’t it hold (in 2020) six weeks until the election?”

Graham, who stated in 2016 to “use my words against me,” attributes his reversal to the Democrats’ opposition to appoint Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. 

“It was unfortunate that the Republicans didn’t hold a vote in 2016, because that kind of sets up a precedent for petty politics,” said Justin Buckner, the president of Chapman Republicans and senior broadcast journalism and documentary major. “But for 2020 … we should not be holding off the Senate vote until the next election, because I’m a believer that when the people vote for their representatives, they vote for the entire term.”

The GOP can only risk losing three Republican senators in the vote to confirm a new associate justice, as Vice President Mike Pence would then cast a tie breaker. However, as of Sept. 23, only Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) publicly oppose the GOP’s proceedings.

Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are worried the Supreme Court’s political balance will be upended by a 6-3 conservative majority that can reshape legal precedent on issues like health care, abortion, gender equality, gay rights and climate change. Chapman Democrats President Yusuf Baqai called McConnell and Graham’s actions “hypocrisy,” and claimed that Trump pressuring the nomination only serves to further divide the country’s political landscape.

“I don't think it needs to be Republican against Democrat, because at the end of the day, we can wait until the next president is elected and then they can decide,” said Baqai, a junior political science major. “We have the coronavirus to deal with, we have police brutality to deal with – all these different issues that need to be more focused on.”

The chair itself is being contested by frontrunner Amy Coney Barrett, a religious conservative judge Trump nominated in 2017 to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump told Fox News he wants the position to be taken up by a woman, and Barrett is among the leading five contenders.

Despite Trump supporting chants of “Fill that seat” at a campaign rally the day after Ginsburg’s death, Smoller doesn’t believe the president’s mannerisms in replacing the chair as fast as possible will shift voter support for his reelection.

“Women have lost a tremendous, tremendous advocate and the best way to celebrate (Ginsburg’s) legacy is to vote and to encourage other women and people to vote,” Smoller said. “Really, this is ‘vote or die.’”

This is a developing story. Follow The Panther on social media and at www.thepanthernewspaper.org for updates.