WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden hammered President Donald Trump and leading Senate Republicans for trying to rush a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as pressure mounted on senators to support or oppose a quick vote to fill the seat.
As the Senate returned to Washington on Monday, all eyes were on Republicans Mitt Romney of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa for clues to whether Trump and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be able to confirm Ginsburg’s replacement anytime soon. A day earlier, Biden had urged unnamed Republicans to join Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine in opposing a confirmation vote before the Nov. 3 election. It takes four GOP senators breaking ranks to keep Trump’s nominee off the court.
Jamming the nomination through, Biden said, would amount to an “abuse of power.”
It was the latest round of ferocious maneuvering that has followed Ginsburg’s death at 87 on Friday. Her passing upended a campaign that had, until then, focused on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s economic collapse and racial unrest that has stoked protests across U.S. cities.
Trump has said he intends within days to name a woman to succeed the liberal icon, McConnell was moving ahead swiftly with plans for confirmation hearings and votes.
Taking the stage at a North Carolina rally to chants of “Fill that seat,” the president said he would nominate his selection despite Democrats’ objections. And, after conducting what he joked was a “very scientific poll” of the Fayetteville crowd as to whether supporters wanted a man or a woman, he declared the choice would be “a very talented, very brilliant woman.”
He added that he did not yet know whom he would choose.
Despite Biden’s urging, there was little chance of calm overtaking the historic campaign as early voting progressed and the death toll from the virus neared 200,000 Americans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to the House having “options” she did not name to stall or prevent the Senate from confirming Ginsburg’s successor to the lifetime job.
Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate. If there were a 50-50 tie, it could be broken by Vice President Mike Pence.
There is another potential wrinkle: Because Arizona’s Senate race is a special election, that seat could be filled as early as Nov. 30. If Democrat Mark Kelly wins and is seated, that would narrow the window for McConnell.