Republicans’ earlier comments about filling vacant Supreme Court seats return to haunt them

Senator Lindsey Graham rejected the idea in 2018, saying at the time: “If an opening happens in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the initial process begins, we will wait for the next election. [Chairman]. Hold the tape. ”

More recently, in September, Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would not vote to replace Ms. Ginsberg before the election, saying, “fair if it’s fair.”

Senator Susan Collins reportedly said only this month that she would not vote for a Supreme Court nominee in October, telling the New York Times: “I think that’s very close, and I’m already doing it.”

The Republican-led Senate will require only 51 votes in order to successfully confirm a next Supreme Court judge after changing voting procedures to allow a simple majority in 2017.

Obama says democracy is at risk if Republicans try to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court in Ginsburg before the election

Former President Barack Obama called on the Senate not to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court as a result of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In a statement, he urged Republican senators to adhere to the principle that they were “invented” in 2016 when they refused to hold a hearing for Merrick Garland’s nomination before a new president was sworn in, and warned that democracy was at risk if they did. Push forward.

“The fundamental principle of the law – and of everyday justice – is that we apply the rules consistently, and not based on what is appropriate or useful at the present time. The rule of law, the legitimacy of our courts and the basic actions of our democracy all depend on this basic principle,” the former president wrote.

Lindsay Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and thus a vital figure in any Supreme Court nomination process, tweeted a non-binding message about the issue following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“I totally understand where the president is [Trump] Comes from, “he writes. It comes after Donald Trump said he would nominate a candidate for the Supreme Court for justice” without delay. “

This comes four years after McConnell announced that Republicans are setting a precedent that Supreme Court candidates should not be confirmed in the year before the election.

Republican senators have already begun urging Donald Trump to nominate a judge on the Supreme Court, so they can confirm any conservative judge before the election.

Senator Tom Telles says he will vote for the “qualified and conservative” lawman, although no candidate has yet been selected.

Senator Josh Hawley is calling for a judge to oppose pro-choice abortion legislation.

Senator Marsha Blackburn said he was “looking forward” to a candidate submitting a vote in the Senate.

Lindsay Graham’s video goes viral insisting that vacancies on the Supreme Court should never be filled in election years

Lindsay Graham, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is under pressure to turn down any Supreme Court candidate Donald Trump introduces to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg – as he himself has promised time and time again.

The South Carolina senator, who is currently fighting his most competitive Democratic rival since being elected to the House of Representatives in 2002, has previously voted for two candidates presented by the heads of both parties.

However, in 2016, he joined the Republican boycott of Merrick Garland, the man Barack Obama had nominated to replace Antonin Scalia. The Republican Senate leadership justified their refusal to accept the nomination on the grounds that in an election year, the next president must decide who to choose.

Ed Markey, the Democratic senator, has openly called for the disruption to be removed and the expansion of the Supreme Court if Mitch McConnell moves forward to confirm the Supreme Court nominee.

Trump says he’s ‘committed’ to nominating a Supreme Court judge ‘without delay’

Donald Trump has suggested that he will announce his candidacy for the Supreme Court following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg “without delay” despite the judge’s dying desire not to choose her replacement “until a new president is installed.”

Referring to the official Republican account in a post on Saturday morning, the president wrote on Twitter: “We have put us in this position of power and importance for making decisions for the people who have elected us proudly, the most important of which has long since been considered.

He added, “We have this commitment without delay!”

Donald Trump tweeted for the first time on Saturday. He says that nominating a Supreme Court judge is the “most important” decision he can make as president, and that he intends to take it forward before the elections.

This is the moment Donald Trump heard about Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death for the first time.

In the clip, a reporter told him the news.

Mr. Trump said, “She just died? Wow, I didn’t know that, you’re telling me now for the first time.”

California earthquake: A 4.5-magnitude earthquake strikes the West Coast

The US Geological Survey said a 4.5-magnitude earthquake jolted southern California on Friday evening.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage following the earthquake, which struck around 11.40pm local time, two miles outside South El Monte, near Los Angeles.

However, the authorities have warned residents not to prepare for potential aftershocks.

The Los Angeles Police Department asked the public to call 911 only for emergencies, but said it had not received reports of damage.