The White House has been reaching out to political allies and conservative activist groups to discuss preparations for an ailing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s possible death or departure from the bench, according to Politico.
Ginsburg has been absent from Supreme Court arguments this week following the removal of two malignant cancerous growths from her left lung on Dec. 21.
The outreach began after Ginsburg, 85, on Monday missed oral arguments at the court for the first time in her 25 years on the bench. The justice, who was nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, announced in late December that she underwent a surgical procedure to remove two cancerous growths from her lungs. -Politico
According to a source familiar with the discussions, the White House “is taking the temperature on possible short-list candidates, reaching out to key stakeholders, and just making sure that people are informed on the process. They’re doing it very quietly, of course, because the idea is not to be opportunistic, but just to be prepared so we aren’t caught flat-footed.”
The Supreme Court announced that Ginsburg had a pulmonary lobectomy, and that there was “no evidence of any remaining disease” post surgery. That said, her absence from the bench for the first time in more than 25 years is notable. The oldest Supreme Court Justice has battled cancer twice in the past, once in 1999 and then in 2009 when she underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer – neither of which kept her away from court.
On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts said that she was “unable to be present” but would participate in oral arguments by reading briefs, filings and a transcript of the session.
Ginsburg’s departure from the Court would pave the way for Trump to nominate a third Supreme Court Justice – the most in one presidential term since Ronald Reagan nominated three judges during his second term, notes Politico.
The nine-member court is currently divided 5-4 between its conservative and liberal wings. Ginsburg’s departure would allow Trump to create the Court’s strongest conservative majority in decades, a scenario sure to bring intense opposition from Democrats and liberal activists still furious over the October confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. -Politico
“It would be a brutal confirmation,” said the Heritage Foundation’s John Malcom, who heads up the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. “The first two were not easy at all, but this would be much harder in this respect: When Neil Gorsuch was the nominee, you were replacing a conservative with a conservative. With Kavanaugh, you were replacing the perennial swing voter, who more times than not sided with the so-called conservative wing, so that slightly solidified the conservative wing.”
“But if you are replacing Justice Ginsburg with a Trump appointee, that would be akin to replacing Thurgood Marshall with Clarence Thomas,” said Malcom. “It would mark a large shift in the direction of the court.”
The White House is urging outside allies to be prepared for another bruising confirmation battle should Ginsberg’s health take a sudden turn for the worse, according to four sources with knowledge of the overtures. Outside groups, led by the Federalist Society and the Judicial Crisis Network, played a leading role in helping to confirm Kavanaugh and, before that, Justice Neil Gorsuch.
The groups have advised the Trump team on everything from potential nominees to political and media strategy, producing television advertisements and blitzing reporters with supportive messaging. Together, the conservative groups spent over $7 million on ads supporting Kavanaugh’s nomination. -Politico
Supreme Court appointments are for life, and replacements can only occur upon the death or retirement of a judge. If a judge cannot perform their duties, Congress has the option to impeach.
In December, the vehemently anti-Trump- Ginsburg told an audience that she “will do this job as long as I can do it full steam.”
During the heat of the 2016 US election, Ginsburg made shockwaves when she told the New York Times that should President Trump become President, it would be time to move to New Zealand, stating “I can’t imagine what the country would be with Donald Trump as our president,” adding “For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be — I don’t even want to contemplate that.”
The comments led many to suggest Ginsburg would need to recuse herself from any decisions involving Trump, with even the Washington Post noting that some “wondered what impact this might have on Ginsburg’s decision to hear cases involving Trump. – If there’s a redo of Bush v. Gore, how does Ginsburg not recuse herself, given her Trump comments?”
Trump fired back, telling The Times “I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly.”
He also tweeted: “Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot – resign!”
Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot – resign!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2016
Americans used to believe in freedom.
Whoever the next conservative SCOTUS candidate is will have to get through the Salem Witch Trials for whomever they fucked 35 years ago at a drunken college party.
Amy Coney Barrett raped the shit out of me when I was 16 and she was 6.
The traitorous scum from the Red team are no better or worse than the puppets on the Blue team. Historically they’ve just chipped away at differing parts of the Constitution.
It’s stimulating theater; I’ll give you that. But the notion that Judicial power is precariously balanced between two ideological factions called ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ is absurd. It should outrage your dignity that they think you are actually still this stupid.
When I was 5 I thought stepping on a crack might break my mother’s back. I look back on such naive innocence with fondness and a sense of regret.
45 years later, those who still believe in the engineered Left/Right Puppet Show inspire pity and a sense of burning shame on their behalf.
Still, when another evil (((chosenite))) is pried from our anemic necks I shall dance and cheer and invite you all to join me.
I HAVE MY POPCORN AND SODA, DO YOU HAVE YOURS???
It is time
She has probably been dead for a month.
She has probably been dead for a
monthmillennium.Nosferatu.
Anyway, I must applaud whoever decided to put the word “malignant” in bold. An excellent word to associate with this creature.
There is NO WAY that a Trump nomination will be confirmed unless that nomination is made from a list prepared and vetted by the Dem reps from the Deep State. Someone like Kavanaugh or Roberts (bad as they are, for LIFE) will not be tolerated. It will have to be a complete surrender to the Progs, or no deal. Just like the shutdown.
Oh, don’t worry. There will be plenty of Repubs who will join their reall allies in the Dm caucust to make sure Trump appointees never see the light of day. Hell, there are enough of them in his own Administration to be sure of that!
When Justice Ginsburg finally departs for that strictly kosher retirement home in West Palm Beach, and The Man from Queens (with a Southern White House across the I.C.W. at Mar-a-Lago on Palm Beach) gets to make the nomination for a new justice to sit on the SCOTUS; I have a novel idea how he can preempt any hearings’ circus, carnival, or Autos-da-fe.
DJT should locate and nominate a Black Muslim Lesbian in a wheelchair who also happens to be a conservative and highly-regarded Constitutional scholar. If one can be found ( there’s the rub) there is no politician who would dare vote against an individual with such a resume. It would be an air-tight nomination. The Man From Queens would become legend.
She’s hot. So was Janet Reno. (I’m loaded and I can’t stop laughing).
Two beauts you just picked GPM….whew!…the Lee Sisters…Home and Ugh.
Glad you got it. Still LMAO.
It’s beginning to sound a lot like Weekend at Bernie’s, but they won’t bring her out to play. Regardless, with the Left’s political Full Spectrum Dominance, they still – and always – have the final say, i.e. Scalia. BAMN.
Kinda reminds me of Stephan Hawking. We gonna be treated with her presence for decades to come, moaning and groaning while someone interprets.
She’s equal to a foot long deuce in a truck stop toilet .
Wait, Kavanaugh sided against States and with Planned Parenthood in his very first decision.
Trumps next Scotus pick will probably make a further mockery of “it’s da law.”
Is there going to be a fucking AG confirmation anytime soon?
Sure hope Trump appoints the lady, let the left try to BORK her-the one that was up there with Kavanaugh at the top of his list.
Replacing her with a conservative, One thing Trump can do to slow down the country’s demise.
Perhaps banal, boorish and with a flair for the obvious, but that woman is about a creepy a visage since Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Is her soul so poisoned as to poison her face? And I’m pretty sure I just saw a Ted Cruz with a beard pic flash across the tv. Weird.
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Ugly Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed to the Supreme Court by serial rapist Bill Clinton, should not be withing a million miles of an court of justice let alone the Supreme Court of the United States. What a disgusting, evil creature which the world will gladly soon be rid of.