Category: Ruth Bader Ginsberg

What Ginsberg Said Four Years Ago About Filling A SCOTUS Vacancy During An Election Year

Posted on by John Hanson

While liberals continue to circulate and praise the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “fervent wish” that her seat isn’t filled until after the November election, they have not been as eager to share what she thought about filling vacancies to the nation’s highest court before the 2016 presidential election.

When the GOP blocked former President Obama’s pick of Merrick Garland to fill the late Antonin Scalia’s seat through Republican-controlled Senate, Ginsburg instructed them to proceed with reviewing the nomination.

RELATED: AOC, Pelosi Hint Impeachment Should Be Considered To Stop Trump Supreme Court Selection

Most Democrats Believed The 2016 SCOTUS Vacancy Should Have Been Filled Before The Election

“That’s their job,” Ginsburg said to The New York Times. “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being president in his last year.”

Then-President Barack Obama said basically the same thing in 2016.

“When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the president is to nominate someone, the Senate is to consider that nomination'” Obama said. “There’s no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years.” That’s not in the Constitution text.”

Biden Said In 2016 That Not Appointing A SCOTUS Justice Could Result In A ‘Constitutional Crisis’

Not surprisingly, 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden is now saying filling Ginsburg’s vacant SCOTUS seat should wait until after the election, though in 2016, the then-vice president believed that blocking Garland might result in a “constitutional crisis.”

Hillary Clinton also believes the nomination process should wait – but that’s not what she necessarily thought about Garland’s appointment four years ago.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the 2016 election, “Every day that goes by without a ninth justice is another day the American people’s business is not getting done.”

 

The Republican National Committee shared a video on Sunday with examples of what Democratic leaders were saying in 2016 about filling a seat during an election year.

 

Cruz Agrees With Biden (Four Years Ago) – Failure To Nominate A Justice Could Lead To A ‘Constitutional Crisis’

Sen. Ted Cruz – similar to Democrats in 2016 – worries that an eight-member court hading into the election could pose a “constitutional crisis.”

“Democrats and Joe Biden have made clear they intend to challenge this election,” Cruz said Friday on Fox News “Hannity.”

“They intend to fight the legitimacy of the election,” he said. “As you know, Hillary Clinton has told Joe Biden ‘under no circumstances should you concede, you should challenge this election.’”

RELATED: Trump Fires Back After Obama Says He Shouldn’t Fill SCOTUS Vacancy

“And we cannot have Election Day come and go with a 4-4 Court,” Cruz told Sean Hannity.

“A 4-4 Court that is equally divided cannot decide anything,” the senator continued. “And I think we risk a constitutional crisis if we do not have a nine-justice Supreme Court, particularly when there is such a risk of … a contested election.”

The post What Ginsberg Said Four Years Ago About Filling A SCOTUS Vacancy During An Election Year appeared first on The Political Insider.

AOC, Pelosi Hint Impeachment Should Be Considered To Stop Trump Supreme Court Selection

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) have hinted impeachment would be considered as a weapon to halt President Trump from filling a Supreme Court vacancy.

The vacancy arose following the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday.

Trump has vowed to nominate an individual to fill her seat while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced the nominee “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and AOC (D-NY) demonstrated that they are in lockstep in trying to stop the Presidential’s Constitutional duty to select a replacement.

They’ve even gone so far as to wield impeachment – potentially – as a tool to accomplish their politically motivated goals.

RELATED: Fox News’ Harris Faulkner Tries To Explain Why Her Show Stopped Newt Gingrich From Discussing George Soros

Pelosi Refuses to Rule Out Impeachment

Pelosi appeared in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week,” where the topic of impeachment was broached by former Bill Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos.

Stephanopoulos discussed impeaching either President Trump or Attorney General William Barr.

“You and the House could move to impeach President Trump or Attorney General Barr as a way of stalling and preventing the Senate from acting on this nomination,” he suggested.

“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now, but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country,” Pelosi replied.

She added, “This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election.”

When questioned again Pelosi claimed her oath to the Constitution would compel her to use every tool at her disposal.

“We have a responsibility. We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” she continued.

“We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people.”

Pelosi concluded: “When we weigh the equities of protecting our democracy, it requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.”

RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany Hammers Media For Refusing To Ask One Question About Historic Middle East Peace Deals

AOC Suggests Impeachment As Well

If you thought Pelosi’s response was unhinged, you needn’t point to any further proof than the fact that AOC is on board with the idea.

Yes, the former bartender believes impeachment – a process reserved for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ – is a viable option.

“Would you be in support of potentially reviewing talks of impeachment hearings either against the attorney general or the president?” a reporter asked.

“These are procedures and decisions that are largely up to House Democratic leadership,” she deferred.

“But I believe that also we must consider, again, all of the tools available to our disposal, and that all of these options should be entertained and on the table.”

Take note that the reporters are the ones throwing out the impeachment suggestion, leading both Pelosi and AOC to comment on the matter.

It’s almost as if they’re working together to harness these wild and unhinged ideas into action.

Pelosi’s interview also raised questions as to whether or not she was reading off a teleprompter with her answer because of this curious exchange.

Let’s reiterate that exchange:

Stephanopoulos – “To be clear, you’re not taking any arrows out of your quiver, you’re not ruling anything out?”

Pelosi – “Good morning. Sunday morning. The, uh, we have a responsibility …”

This is strikingly similar to moments when Joe Biden has been caught reading words he wasn’t meant to read off of a teleprompter.

Did ABC feed her the question ahead of time for the answer to be queued up on the screen?

The post AOC, Pelosi Hint Impeachment Should Be Considered To Stop Trump Supreme Court Selection appeared first on The Political Insider.