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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker urged President Trump and the US Senate “to allow the American people to cast their ballots for President before a new justice is nominated or confirmed.”
In a?tweet Saturday, Baker called the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “not only a loss for the court but for the entire nation.”
On Friday, Baker endorsed incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in her upcoming election. His endorsement was featured Friday?in an ad?paid for by the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“As governor of Massachusetts I work with both parties to get things done. Susan Collins does that in the senate. She’s pro-environment, pro-women, pro-Maine. We need more leaders like Susan. I hope you reelect her,” he said.?
Collins released a statement Friday evening on the passing of Ginsburg, but did not mention whether the nomination of a new justice should happen before or after the presidential election.
Read the tweet:
The British embassy in Washington, DC, has lowered its flags in honor of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to its official Twitter account.
Read the tweet:
A Trump adviser close to the process said the White House would like to announce a pick for the Supreme Court before the first presidential debate, which is scheduled for Sept. 29.
Some more context: One source close to the process of searching for a new Supreme Court justice believes that the top of President Trump’s list includes Judges Amy Coney Barrett, Barbara Lagoa and Amul Thapar.
Jill Biden, the wife of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, briefly mentioned the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during an Ohio virtual canvassing launch event Saturday.
Biden said that Ginsburg lived “an illustrious and fearless life.”
The remaining Supreme Court justices have released statements following the death of their colleague Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Read excerpts from their statements below:
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
Justice Clarence Thomas
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Justice Samuel A. Alito
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Justice Elena Kagan
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, said Ruth Bader Ginsburg will “forever be known as a woman of brilliance” following her death Friday.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham indicated that he would attempt to advance a Supreme Court nominee from President Trump this year.
On Twitter, Graham pointed people to remarks he made on filling a Supreme Court seat earlier this year.
Graham also quoted Trump’s tweet which called for the GOP to act quickly on a nominee, saying, “I fully understand where the President is coming from.”
One of the articles Graham posted on Twitter was an interview he did with “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren,” in which he explained that he would try and confirm a Supreme Court nominee if there was an opening, even though it is an election year.
He told Van Susteren that he believed this situation would be different than with Merrick Garland because in this case, the Senate and the executive bodies are controlled by the same party, which was not the case in 2016.
One source close to the process of searching for a new Supreme Court justice believes that the top of President Trump’s list includes Judges Amy Coney Barrett, Barbara Lagoa and Amul Thapar.
In the run up to the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation, Trump met with both Barrett and Thapar; it’s unclear if he’s had a face to face meeting with Lagoa.
Some history: Barrett, Trump’s nominee to the 7th circuit,?is a favorite of supporters of religious liberty who point to her extensive writings on faith and the law. During her confirmation hearing, ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, asked her if the “dogma lives loudly in her.”
The comments infuriated Barrett’s supporters, who said Feinstein was trying to apply a religious litmus test. In a 2013 publication affiliated with Notre Dame, Barrett was quoted as saying she thinks it is “very unlikely at this point” that the court is going to overturn Roe v. Wade.?
Thapar is a long time favorite of Sen. Mitch McConnell.?Thapar now sits on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. He was the first American of South Asian descent to be named to an Article III judgeship. Lagoa hails from Florida and was the first Hispanic woman and the first Cuban American woman on the Supreme Court in Florida. She has deep connections in the state that could be a battleground.?
Watch more:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Ginsburg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009.?Earlier this year, she announced a recurrence of the cancer, having discovered lesions on her liver.?
Experts say that about 95% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will die from it. There are currently no general screening tools for pancreatic cancer, and there are often no symptoms in the early stages, when the tumor would be most treatable. The cancer is often discovered at more advanced stages, sometimes when it has spread to other organs, known as?metastasis.?
The National Cancer Institute named pancreatic cancer as the third-leading cause of death from cancers, after lung and colorectal cancers in 2018.??The institute says that about 10% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will survive for five years or more.
The American Cancer Society estimates 57,600 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020 and 47,050 will die due to the cancer.?
Some context: Ginsburg is the second icon lost this year who battled with pancreatic cancer.?
Civil rights icon and late US Democratic Representative John Lewis was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer last year and died this July.?
Higher rates of pancreatic cancer are seen in men and African Americans. The risk of pancreatic cancer also increases with age. The average age of diagnosis is 71, and nearly 90% of patients are older than 55.?
CNN’s Elizabeth Landau contributed to this report.
Shana Knizhnik, who created the blog Notorious RBG in 2013 and co-authored a book by the same name, explained why Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and work resonated with young people — and young women, in particular.?
Knizhnik discussed how the blog’s name was inspired by the rapper Notorious B.I.G., a Brooklyn native, like Ginsburg. ?
“It started out as?a joke, right??It was sort of a play on?contrasts between this amazing?rapper who died very early in?life and this diminutive…octogenarian Supreme Court justice,” Knizhnik, a lawyer, told CNN.
She said that Ginsburg served as a role model for many young people.?
Ginsburg officiated Knizhnik’s wedding ceremony one year ago today.?
Watch more:
For young women, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a role model who demonstrated what‘s possible for them.
Seeing a woman on the Supreme Court was inspirational, and that representation matters, said 20-year-old Eve Levenson, a junior at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Levenson met Justice Ginsburg during her first week of college, she told CNN.
“RBG was one of the main reasons I grew up believing that despite what anybody said about my religion, ethnicity, or gender that I could do anything I set my mind to,” Levenson, who is Jewish, added. “Seeing yourself represented in the highest court of the land is a powerful image.”
Kimberly Collins,?a 20-year-old Black woman,?is a member of Scales of Justice Academy, a program which exposes underserved girls to the legal profession, she said.
According to Collins, the most profound lesson Ginsburg taught her, “is that the fight for equity and justice is worth every single obstacle and setback,” she said.
“As a woman of color, it was not normal for me to connect or receive this kind of inspiration from the few women that had national platforms,” Collins told CNN. “Yet, I connected with RBG. With her it was different. I knew she was fighting for me.”
Ritika Iyer, a 20-year-old Hindu Indian woman, spoke to Ginsburg’s legacy of dissent.
“RBG taught me that it’s ok to disagree and be vocal about it. As a women, I sometimes tend to not want to rock the boat. But the way she would vehemently dissent and refuse to put up with the status quo inspired me to be more vocal about my opinions,” she said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state will honor the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a statue in Brooklyn, her birthplace.
Read his message:
Mourners gathered this morning in front of the Supreme Court to pay tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Last night, hundreds of people showed up in front of the building after news broke that Ginsburg had died.
CNN’s Ariane de Vogue shared photos of some of the signs placed at the makeshift vigil:
A campaign aide said Democratic?vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband?Doug Emhoff walked down to the Supreme Court this morning following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Mourners have been gathering in front of the building this morning to pay their respects to the late justice.
In a statement released overnight, Harris called Ginsburg “a relentless defender of justice in our country and a legal mind for the ages.”
Harris tweeted the following photo from her visit:
President Trump, in his first tweets of the day?following the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,?appeared to indicate that he will move forward on appointing a nominee “without delay.”?
Some background: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed on Friday that whomever Trump nominates to replace Ginsburg?will get a vote on the Senate floor.
GOP aides are skeptical that there is enough time to confirm a nominee before Nov. 3, given that Supreme Court nominees typically take two to three months to process, according to a review of recent confirmation proceedings.
But that process could be sped up if McConnell, who controls the majority of the chamber, has the votes to confirm a replacement, and there is enough time to confirm someone in a lame-duck session of Congress after the November elections.
Gov. Greg Abbott today ordered all Texas flags to be lowered to honor the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.?
Abbott’s decision to lower the flags follows similar actions from the governors of Kentucky and Connecticut.
As America mourned the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — a brilliant trailblazer for women and an equal rights icon — a fierce new political debate began unfolding Friday evening.
With just 45 days until the election, the battle over who will replace her and when that Senate vote will occur is already reshaping the stakes in more than a half-dozen closely fought Senate races, while galvanizing impassioned voters on both sides of the presidential campaign.
The death of a Supreme Court justice so close to the November election was all but certain to thrust America’s culture wars back to the center of the political debate in a year dominated by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
That battle has the ability to breathe new energy into the electorate — activating conservative Republicans who have grown weary of President Trump but view the election as a chance to shape the court, while also mobilizing millions of female voters who are already infuriated by Trump’s degradation of women and would view his ability to nominate three Supreme Court justices in a single term as an assault on their values.
Read the full analysis here.
Before Justice Ginsburg’s death, President Trump had talked privately this summer about the prospect of nominating a female justice in order to boost his support among women voters, people familiar with the conversations said.??
Now that the prospect has become a reality, Amy Coney Barrett’s name has emerged as a favorite after being considered for Trump’s previous Supreme Court vacancies. She was confirmed as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017 after being nominated by the President.?
Advocates pushing for Barrett last time were told by White House officials after Brett Kavanaugh was nominated that she was very much still in the running for another vacancy, according to one person familiar with the conversations. There was a belief among her supporters that Trump favored nominating her to replace a female justice like Ginsburg, the person said.?
Her nomination now is far from assured: Among administration officials, there is a sense they have no room for error given the tight timing and fraught election year politics of this vacancy.?
While Barrett is still a favorite, hers would be a tough confirmation (as it was in 2017) given her opposition to abortion and a devout Catholic faith that Democrats have claimed would color her legal views.?
It’s not clear yet whether Trump and his aides believe a more widely accepted nominee would be a smarter route — or whether such a nominee even exists in the current political climate.?
One official said the President could begin meeting with nominees next week as the White House ramps up its preparations for a confirmation.
Read about other notable names on Trump’s list of nominees here.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has ordered all state office flags to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The flags will remain in that position until sunset on the day of Ginsburg’s internment, a statement from the governor’s office said.
Beshear reacted to Ginsbrug’s death in a tweet, calling her a “trailblazer who served our country and our people.”
After news broke that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died, hundreds showed up outside the Supreme Court last night to pay tribute to her with a makeshift memorial on the building’s steps.
Vigils also took place in other cities, including Denver and San Francisco.
Watch the scene outside the Supreme Court:
At about 9 p.m., the crowd had grown since the announcement of Ginsburg’s death at around 7:30 p.m., CNN reported from the scene.
First Lady Melania Trump shared words of condolences for Ruth Bader Ginsburg whose death was an “immense loss,” she tweeted.
Read the tweet:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has set the stage for a political battle over the future of the highest court.
Addressing the liberal justice’s death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday evening, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
But Ginsburg told her granddaughter she wanted her replacement to be appointed by the next president, NPR reported.
Former president Obama, in a statement mourning Ginsburg, also called for Senate Republicans to uphold the standard they set in 2016 when they blocked his nominee.
Here’s a look at how long is has taken to confirm Supreme Court justices:
Brett Kavanaugh (89 days)
Neil Gorsuch (66 days)
Elena Kagan (87 days)
Sonia Sotomayor (72 days)
Samuel Alito (92 days)
John Roberts (72 days)
(Note: Roberts was nominated twice by Bush but in immediate succession. The first was to replace O’Connor, but upon the death of Rehnquist, his initial nomination was withdrawn and resubmitted as a nomination for Chief Justice. There are 23 days between his second nomination on September 6 and his confirmation)?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg?(50 days)?
Clarence Thomas (106 days)
Stephen Breyer (77 days)?
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify the date on which each Supreme Court nomination was announced by the president and when each nomination was received by the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to hold a call with his caucus at 1 p.m. today to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy and strategy, according to a source.?
Democrats have already called on Sen. Mitch McConnell to hold off on pushing for a new nominee following Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, but the Kentucky senator has pledged that he will bring President Trump’s nominee to the floor whoever that person is.?
Democratic?vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris mourned the loss of of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, calling her “a relentless defender of justice in our country and a legal mind for the ages,” according to a statement.
Harris said the late Supreme Court justice “used every ounce of life she was bestowed to urge our nation down a path toward equal justice.” She?also addressed her passing in the context of Rosh Hashanah.
“According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah we begin a period of reflection. Tonight, we reflect on the legacy of Justice Ginsburg and we honor her belief in creating a fair and just world by recommitting to fight for that justice,” Harris said.
President Trump issued a proclamation overnight remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg?and ordered flags flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of her interment.
Trump touted Ginsburg as a “an inspiration to all Americans” and a “fighter to the end.”
The proclamation reads:
As Europe woke to the news of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, several leaders and political figures paid tribute to the Justice.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the EU Commission, called Ginsburg “a pioneer for women’s rights, law and justice.”
Emmanuel Macron, president of France, tweeted: “An exceptional woman is gone. Ruth Bader?Ginsburg?has fought a universal struggle for justice, gender equality and respect for fundamental rights all her life. Her immense heritage will continue to inspire us.”
Pedro Sánchez, prime minister of Spain, described Ginsburg as a one of the Supreme Court’s “most brilliant figures”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan added: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an inspiration to me, and millions more, as a lawyer seeking justice for others, a feminist and a force for unity when we are surrounded by division.”
And Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote: “Such sad news. And what a loss for the USA of a brilliantly clever woman – an icon of justice and women’s rights.”
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?died on Friday?due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer, the court announced. She was 87.
We want to hear from you.
Tributes are flowing in from around the world for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman on the US Supreme Court and a titan of the American left, who delivered progressive votes on the defining issues of the past three decades and won acclamation from devotees far beyond Washington, DC in the process.
But Ginsburg’s death has also transformed the presidential election and set up a monumental battle on Capitol Hill, as senior Republicans signal their intent to hold a vote on a successor just four years after blocking President Obama’s final Supreme Court nominee.
Here’s what you need to know this morning:
Former President Barack?Obama?lauded Justice Ginsburg’s career and also weighed in on the process to replace her in a statement released on Twitter.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought to the end, through her cancer, with unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals. That’s how we remember her. But she also left instructions for how she wanted her legacy to be honored,” Obama said in a tweet which linked to his official statement.
?Here is part of his statement:
Editor’s note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the author.
There’s no woman in the United States whose life, career and security was not bolstered by the work of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
We are all in her debt. That’s true for all of us, young and old, Democrat or Republican. We should keep that in mind as we consider her?dying wish. As the end of her life approached, Ginsburg dictated to her granddaughter a message for us:
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Ginsburg’s life is a heroic story of perseverance, brilliance and dedication. The indignities she endured because she was a woman seem unthinkable to us today, and that’s only because she was so successful in fighting against them.
Read more here:
Editor’s note: Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, is the author of “Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present.” The views expressed here are hers.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing marks the end of an era in more ways than one.
Having repeatedly beaten cancer, Ginsburg had come to almost seem invincible. She was a larger than life figure who became a hero to many young women trying to follow the path she forged in the legal profession. Ginsburg’s age and frail health were no secret, but her loss still comes as a shock.
Perhaps more than any other jurist, Ginsburg transformed the law of sex discrimination in America. It is hard to imagine the Supreme Court without her.
Even before joining the Supreme Court, she convinced an all-male Supreme Court that laws enforcing sex stereotypes violated the Constitution – and demonstrated how those laws harmed men as well as women. Ginsburg helped make sense of how discrimination against pregnant workers could be pernicious.
On the court, Ginsburg offered the clearest and most cogent defense of abortion rights. She showed that sex discrimination involved often-baseless generalizations – a conclusion that helped advance successful equality claims made by LGBTQ+ groups.
Ginsburg has become an icon for a reason. Her impact on constitutional jurisprudence is hard to overestimate.
Read more here:
In a message to GOP senators late Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged his colleagues not to lock themselves into a position they may later regret and counseled them to be cautious about what they are telling the media about their views on how to process the nomination, according to a person who saw the note.
He urges them to “keep your powder dry.”
McConnell doesn’t indicate a timeframe for considering the nomination but makes clear he believes there’s enough time to take up the nominee this year.
The?death of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?less than two months from the presidential election has forced a reexamination of Republicans’ 11-month blockade of Merrick Garland in 2016.
Justice Antonin Scalia, who had been a conservative stalwart on the Supreme Court since being nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1986, died on February 13, 2016.
Within hours – as other senators were offering condolences to Scalia’s family – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a stunning, categorical rejection of then-President Barack Obama’s authority more than 11 months before the Democrat’s replacement would be sworn into office.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” McConnell said.
Four years later, McConnell?said in a Friday night statement that?President Donald Trump’s?nominee to replace Ginsburg will get a vote in the Senate. Doing so would be a complete reversal of his position in 2016, when the GOP-led Senate refused to hold a hearing or vote on Obama’s nominee, saying it was too close to the election.
Read more here:
The White House is prepared to move “very quickly” on putting forward a nominee to replace US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once President Donald Trump signals his intentions, a senior administration official says.
Officials feel confident in their ability to shepherd a potential nominee through the process on a condensed timeline, and say they will now await Trump’s signal on how to proceed.?
The official said the process will be based in the Counsel’s office, led by Pat Cipollone, though it is expected chief of staff Mark Meadows will be heavily involved on Capitol Hill.?
The official said several potential nominees have been through at least some type of vetting given the previous vacancies and the list Trump produced earlier this month, which could help expedite the process.?
An additional official said the campaign and White House had planned to put out a short list of candidates to fill a vacancy should one become available before the election. Ginsburg’s passing has altered that planning, but shows the White House was already paring down candidates and making a shorter list.?
Editor’s note: Joshua A. Douglas is a law professor at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law. The views expressed in this commentary are his own.
While a law student at the University of Kentucky, the institution where I teach, Senator Mitch McConnell surely learned about the importance of justice and democracy. In the wake of?Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing on Friday evening, there is one action that McConnell can take that may very well save our democracy: announce that the Senate will not consider a Supreme Court nomination until after Inauguration Day 2021.
Ginsburg was a trailblazer in many ways: for?women’s equality,?voting rights, and so much more. Her passing leaves an amazing legacy.
But it also unfortunately occurred with only 46 days until Election Day, when the politics of the moment could not be more vitriolic. Within minutes of her passing, people were?speculating?as to whether Donald Trump would nominate a new justice and whether the Republican-controlled Senate would confirm someone before the next presidency.
Ginsburg herself made her wishes known as her?dying declaration: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Any other path, except for announcing a public pause to defuse the situation, would be extremely dangerous for democracy.
Read more here:
The?death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday?– followed by?Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s statement?that “Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate” – creates a stark choice for the 52 GOP senators that boils down to this: Just how loyal are you to President Donald Trump?
Republicans face the very real possibility of losing both the White House and their Senate majority in November. Ginsburg’s death creates what many conservatives view as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move the makeup of the court from its current lineup of five conservative justices to four liberal justices to a more dominant 6-3 majority. And for Trump to appoint a third young justice – both?Neil Gorsuch?and?Brett Kavanaugh?are under 60 – who could help serve as the conservative foundation of the court for decades to come.
The countervailing force against all of that is tradition, the weight of history and just how much a senator’s past statements actually matter.
Read more here:
President Trump tweeted the following statement on the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
Trump’s first comments on Ginsburg’s death came after a rally in?Minnesota?on Friday night where he appeared to hear the news for the first time from reporters. “Just died?” he responded, when asked about her death.
“I didn’t know that. I just — you’re telling me now for the first time. She led an amazing life,” Trump said. “What else can you say? She was an amazing woman, whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I’m actually sad to hear that. I am sad to hear that.”
Michael Wille was at the new Eisenhower Memorial on Independence Avenue in Washington, DC, when he learned of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg from a tweet from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
He rushed to his car and drove to the Supreme Court to capture a memorial that has been set up on the steps for the late justice.
While gathered at the steps outside of the Supreme Court, a crowd broke out into applause to honor Ginsburg.
Even though he disagreed with Ginsburg’s judicial philosophy, Willie said he found her to be a brilliant legal mind who paved the way for so many women in the United States.
“She was a friend to Justice Scalia and their example of friendship is what we all could use during this year,” Wille said.
“RIP to a legend,” he posted to Twitter.
Watch a moment of the applause:
Christopher Scalia, the son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, shared a few stories about Ruth Bader Ginsburg who shared a close friendship with his father.
“I’m very sad to hear about the passing of my parents’ good friend, and my father’s wonderful colleague, Justice Ginsburg,” he tweeted. “May her memory be a blessing.”
He went on to share a couple of passages from his father’s book “Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived” that he said “convey what she meant to my dad.” The passages include his father’s sentiments about his friendship with Ginsburg.
President Trump has?updated a roster of more than 20 potential Supreme Court nominees?in recent weeks, a list that includes prominent and lesser-known conservatives who would undoubtedly tilt the court further rightward if one were appointed.
The?death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?on Friday, a liberal icon,?provides Trump with an opportunity to appoint his third justice to the bench, a move that is sure to infuriate Democrats and satisfy Republicans looking to add a sixth conservative justice to the court.
Here are some of the more notable members of Trump’s list of potential nominees:
Amy Coney Barrett: A former clerk to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Barrett was Trump’s pick for a seat on the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Born in 1972, she served as a professor of law at her alma mater, Notre Dame. During her confirmation hearing, she had a contentious exchange with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who asked her about past writings concerning faith and the law. At one point, Feinstein asked Barrett if the “dogma lives loudly in her.” Supporters of Barrett suggested Feinstein was attempting to apply a religious litmus test to the nominee.
Barrett is quoted in a 2013 publication affiliated with Notre Dame as saying she thinks it is “very unlikely at this point” that the Supreme Court is going to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion decision that legalized abortion in the US.
Amul Thapar: Thapar was handpicked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to serve as the US attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In 2006, he went on to a seat on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Trump nominated Thapar to the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017. Born in Michigan in 1969, Thapar has served in government as well as the private practice. In 2007, he was the first American of South Asian descent to be named to an Article III federal judgeship.
Former US Solicitors General Paul Clement and Noel Francisco: Francisco, who stepped down as solicitor general in July at the end of the Supreme Court’s last term, had served as many controversial issues came to the court, including disputes regarding the President’s financial records, the travel ban, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, religious liberty and the effort to add a citizenship question to the census.
Clement served as solicitor general during George W. Bush’s presidency. One of the most experienced appellate advocates in the country, he has argued more than 100 cases before the court, including those involving health care, religious liberty and voting rights.
Read more about Trump’s potential picks here.
Former President Bill Clinton called the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg “a magnificent judge and a wonderful person” following her death today at the age of 87.
Regarding Ginsburg’s tenure on the Supreme Court, Ginsburg?“exceeded even my highest expectations when I appointed her,” he said.
“Her landmark opinions advancing gender equality, marriage equality, the rights of people with disabilities, the rights of immigrants, and so many more moved us closer to ‘a more perfect union,’” Clinton said. “Her powerful dissents, especially her ringing defense of voting rights and other equal protection claims, reminded us that we walk away from our Constitution’s promise at our peril.?And she did it all with kindness, grace, and calm, treating even her strongest adversaries with respect.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley called Ruth Bader Ginsburg “an exceptional legal scholar, a selfless public servant and a role model” following her death today.
Read the tweet:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was remembered at an online service on the eve of Rosh Hashanah at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC, according to a congregant.
A photo of Ginsburg was posted during the mourner’s Kaddish.
Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, whose husband clerked for Ginsburg a decade ago, shared memories of the late Supreme Court justice, the congregant said.
“She imagined the best for our country, she imagined the law being one that would protect all of the American citizens and could also be used as a document to find our North Star,” the rabbi said. “At at time when equality was not given to women, she fought for us and she fought for us with grace, with humility, with persistence with chutzpah and with knowing that law better than anyone else.”
Holtzblatt then shared a message with the congregation: “I want to ask you tonight as you think over this news and as we all ponder what this means for us in the days and weeks ahead, that we not make this about the year 2020.”
While GOP Senate sources believe action on a nominee will likely wait until a post-election, lame-duck session of Congress, it’s possible it could be moved up for this reason: The possibility of court fights over the election results and the need for nine justices on the court to resolve any disputes.
A GOP Senate source says this topic will be under discussion with senators as they decide whether to fast-track a nominee before November.
It typically takes two to three months to confirm a nominee. But that process could be sped up if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has the votes to confirm a replacement.
Earlier this evening, McConnell said President Trump’s nominee to fill her seat “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Watch CNN’s Manu Raju explain the process:
President Trump was “saddened to hear the news” about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said late Friday.?
McEnany was effusive in her praise of Ginsberg, saying she “really paved the path” for women in law.
“Tonight, we honor her legacy,” McEnany said. “We’ve lowered the flag to half staff, and I’ve heard the President say just how much he admired her career and her trajectory.”?
Moments after her interview with Fox, CNN’s Jim Acosta asked McEnany about filling Ginsburg’s seat, but she repeatedly said the White House wanted tonight to be about Justice Ginsburg.?
She also said she had not spoken with Trump sine the news broke of her passing.?
In the wake of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said whoever is elected president in November should pick the nominee to fill her seat.
Earlier tonight, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Trump’s nominee to fill her seat “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg “not?only a giant in the legal?profession, but a beloved?figure” following her death tonight.
Watch:
Amanda Tyler, former law clerk for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said the late Supreme Court justice was her idol and made everyone do “their best work.”
“She was meticulous. She had the highest standards. I like to analogize working for her with being on a sports team, with someone like Michael Jordan. She was so great, that she made everyone do their best work, and be at their best,” Tyler continued.?
According to CNN’s Ariane De Vogue, Ginsburg was working on a?book?with?Tyler at the time of her death. It was based on her life on gender equality.
Watch the interview:
Kalina Newman said she was having dinner with her boyfriend in Alexandria, Virginia, when she got the news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. She rushed to the Supreme Court when she heard.
“I immediate got my meal packed up, and we went to the grocery store to pick up flowers,” Newman told CNN.
People had already put out signs and candles when they got there.
Newman is the Eastern Regional Communications Coordinator for the AFL-CIO.
“As a young woman with a passion for progressive politics, she taught me to never take no for an answer,” she said when asked what Ginsburg meant to her.
President Trump appeared to hear the news about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing from reporters.?
“Just now?” he responded, when asked about her death.?
After his comments, Trump walked up the stairs to board Air Force One.?Trump had been holding a rally in Minnesota when news of Ginsburg’s death broke.
Watch the moment:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s high school, James Madison High School in Brooklyn, just posted about the late Supreme Court justice.?
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of JMHS alum Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her advocacy and dedication to civil liberties, and her tremendous legacy, will live on in the hallways of Madison through our Law Institute,” the school wrote.
?Here’s the full post:
Here is a list of four Republicans senators who have said they will oppose a vote before the election:
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont directed US and state flags across to be lowered to half-staff “immediately?and remain at half-staff until sunset on the date of interment, which has not yet been determined,” he said in a statement following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Elsewhere around the northeast: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Ginsburg “an inspiration to countless young women and girls across our nation, and around the globe.”
“We have been made a better nation, and a better people, through her reasoned approach and sharp-minded opinions,” Murphy said.
Supreme Court?Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg planned to retire under Hillary Clinton if she was elected president, NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg said this evening.
“Fate dealt her… the cards not that way?and she just soldiered on,” Totenberg added.
Totenberg went on to report that Ginsberg had expressed that wish in a dictated statement her granddaughter, Clara Spera, just days before her death.
“My most fervent wish is, that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg said in the statement, according to Totenberg.
“She knew what was to come, that her death will have profound consequences for the court and the country,” said Totenberg, speaking with CNN’s anchor Anderson Cooper this evening.
President Trump wrapped his Minnesota rally after speaking for 114 minutes with no mention of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Trump did not appear to know that Ginsburg had died as the news broke after he had already taken the stage.?
The pool is staging under Air Force One now for a possible gaggle.?
According to a statement obtained by NPR, Ruth Bader Ginsburg told her granddaughter just days before her death that her “most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Ginsburg died surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, DC, the court said. A private interment service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.
Ginsburg had suffered from five bouts of cancer, most recently a recurrence in early 2020 when a biopsy revealed lesions on her liver. She had said that chemotherapy was yielding “positive results” and that she was able to maintain an active daily routine.
Hear more:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacancy will quickly become political.
Here are five things to watch:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes the Supreme Court justice that takes the seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg will uphold her “commitment to equality, opportunity and justice for all,” she said in a statement.
Earlier this evening, one of Pelosi’s staff members called for the flags at the US Capitol to be flown at half-staff in Ginsburg’s honor.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, saying President Trump’s nominee to fill her seat “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
He added: “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
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The American flag at the top of the White House has been lowered to half-staff tonight following the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows shared his condolences over the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, calling her “a trailblazer, a dedicated public servant, and an inspiration to so many.”
Read the tweet:
Betsy West and Julie Cohen, directors of the hit documentary “RBG,” said Ruth Bader Ginsburg “earned a place in history for what she did to win equally for American women” following news of her passing today.
“RBG” was nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards in 2019.
Watch:
Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Ruth Bader Ginsburg “will be remembered as one of the great justices in modern American history.”
Her death “is a tremendous loss to our country,” he tweeted.
Here’s his full message:
Former President Jimmy Carter remembered Ginsburg as a “powerful legal mind and a staunch advocate for gender equality” in a statement following her death.
Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, said they “join countless Americans in mourning the loss of a truly great woman.”
Here’s the full statement from the Carters:
In a sign that the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg touched Americans far and wide, tennis legend Billie Jean King and other athletes have shared their condolences online for the late Supreme Court justice.
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe called Ginsburg’s death a “devastating” and “incalculable loss.”
Read the tweets:
President Trump took the stage in Bemidji, Minnesota, minutes before the news broke that Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and he has not acknowledged the late Supreme Court justice, appearing not to know the news as he continues his rally.?
The White House referred reporters to comments the President made in August during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt about a replacement on the high court, when he said he?would absolutely seek to fill a seat that opened suddenly. “I would move quickly. Why not? I mean they would. The Democrats would if they were in this position.”?
As Trump continued his rally, attendees muttered the news to each other with one supporter telling the other: “Did you see the news about RBG? I don’t think he knows.”?
At one moment someone in the back of the rally shouted “RBG just died” but Trump did not seem to hear.?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ordered the flags at the US Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to a tweet from one of her staff members.
Read the message:
New York leaders are morning the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was born in Brooklyn in 1933.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio?said he was “crushed” by the loss, tweeting that Ginsburg was a “daughter of Brooklyn” and a “tenacious spirit who moved this country forward in fairness, equality and morality.”?
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state’s “heart breaks” with her death.
“During her extraordinary career, this Brooklyn native broke barriers & the letters RBG took on new meaning—as battle cry & inspiration,” Cuomo wrote.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid her respects to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Twitter this evening, where she said “there will never be another like her.”
Read the message:
Former President George W. Bush said Ruth Bader Ginsburg “dedicated many of her 87 remarkable years to the pursuit of justice and equality,” according to a statement he released along with his wife, Laura, shortly after the Supreme Court justice’s death was announced this evening.
Here’s the statement:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — even after her fifth diagnosis with cancer — was writing a book with one of her former clerks, Amanda Tyler.
It was based on her life on gender equality.?
Following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called her a “giant in American history” and a “trailblazer for women.”
Schumer went on to tweet a warning to Senate colleagues about rushing to confirm a new Supreme Court justice, writing that,?“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”
Irin Carmon, the co-author of “Notorious RBG,” discussed her relationship with the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg who, in 2017, had officiated her wedding.
Watch:
The Supreme Court of the United States this evening announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died.
Here’s how the statement from the court began:
The court’s statement also included a quote from Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.:
You can read the full statement from the Supreme Court here.
Former 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg honored the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Twitter, saying that she “now shines within the history of our country, there to inspire generations.”
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a titan of justice,” he wrote.
See his full tribute:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored virtually last night at the National Constitution Center.
The tribute featured “Saturday Night Live” star Kate McKinnon, who often played Ginsburg in a recurring role on the late night show, and actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, among others.
Here is the letter that Ginsburg wrote for the event:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, and became the second woman appointed to the bench.
Her swearing in came about 12 years after Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court.
Since then, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan have been appointed to the bench.
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, the court announced. She was 87.
The Supreme Court justice was born on March 15, 1933. She was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, and became the second woman appointed to the bench.
Ginsburg achieved an icon status, particularly among young lawyers — and her dissents enhanced her prominence. The “Notorious RBG” meme, a play on the rapper Notorious B.I.G.,” began as fans responded to her dissenting opinion in a case in which the conservative majority curtailed the reach of the federal Voting Rights Act. She was also one of the four dissenting votes in Bush V. Gore, which resolved the disputed 2000 Presidential election in favor of George W. Bush.
Before being nominated to the Supreme Court, she served as a US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and a law professor. Ginsburg was the first woman to be hired with tenure at Columbia University School of Law.
