There is still plenty of time for Republicans to appoint Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remarked in a defiant statement Monday.
The Senate Majority Leader (R-KY) is not backing down from his vow to rapidly fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the late liberal icon, the Hill reported, as Democrats vow to take whatever measures necessary to stop him.
McConnell: More than enough time to confirm RBG successor
Democrats have characterized McConnell’s plans as hypocritical and a highly unusual break with convention, especially after he blocked Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Antonin Scalia in 2016. But McConnell is not moved by claims that it would be unprecedented to “ram through” a new justice so close to the 2020 election — which is 43 days away.
“The historical precedent is overwhelming, and it runs in one direction. If our Democratic colleagues want to claim they are outraged, they can only be outraged at the plain facts of American history,” McConnell said Monday.
In remarks from the Senate floor, McConnell delicately observed that the Ginsburg herself was confirmed in less time — 42 days — and that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the highest court, was confirmed in just 33 days.
“Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, another iconic jurist, was confirmed 33 days after her nomination. For the late Justice Ginsburg herself, it was just 42 days. Justice [John Paul] Stevens’s entire confirmation process could have been played out twice, twice between now and Nov. 3, with time to spare. And Justice Ginsburg herself could have been confirmed twice between now and the end of the year with time to spare,” McConnell said.
The conservative Twitter account Undercover Huber similarly pointed out that a majority of SCOTUS confirmations since 1900 have been confirmed in less than 46 days, the time between September 19, a day after Ginsburg passed, and Election Day.
A total of 61 SCOTUS justices have been nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court since the turn of the last century (1900)
70% of these (43 Justices) were confirmed in *under 46 days* (the amount of time remaining until the Nov 3 Presidential election)
THREAD
— Undercover Huber (@JohnWHuber) September 19, 2020
“Cocaine Mitch” scoffs at court-packing threat
Nevertheless, Democrats are threatening to take a broad range of retaliatory measures, warning that “nothing is off the table,” including abolishing the filibuster and packing the courts.
McConnell, who has earned the nickname “Cocaine Mitch” for his hardball approach to procedural fights, remarked that these threats are not new and have lost much of their impact from overuse.
“The American people are about to witness an astonishing parade of misrepresentations about the past, misstatements about the present, and more threats against our institutions from the same people — the same people who have already been saying for months, well before this, already been saying for months they want to pack the court,” he said.
As America witnessed in the Brett Kavanaugh cataclysm, when McConnell takes the gloves off, he doesn’t hold back.
Democrats had better bring their A-game.
The post Plenty of time to confirm Ginsburg replacement, McConnell says first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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