Epic political and ideological fight shaping up after Ginsburg's death

WASHINGTON

: The body had barely turned cold when the political and ideological fight erupted. For conservative Republicans, the death of liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader

Ginsburg

from pancreatic cancer on Friday night provided an opening to ram home their existing 5-4 advantage on the bench to 6-3, with a replacement nomination and confirmation before a new Presidential term on January 2021. For Democrats, it is a battle to stave off a conservative tilt so steep that it will affect policies and programs for generations; a Biden Presidency and nomination of a liberal replacement would keep the bench at 5-4, and perhaps turn it around.


Ginsburg, who was 87, clearly knew what was at stake as she resolutely kept working despite being diagnosed for pancreatic cancer in 2009 and undergoing angioplasty in 2014. In a statement she reportedly dictated to her granddaughter Clara Spera days before her death, she said, "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed."

It is not a wish President Trump and his allies in Senate are expected to honor. Within an hour of Ginsburg’s death, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority leader, under whose domain comes confirmation hearings of justices nominated by the President, announced that "President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."

McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, had in similar circumstances denied President Barack Obama a confirmation hearing for his nomination of liberal justice Merrick Garland in 2016, arguing that there should not be a replacement in an election year. In keeping with the unprincipled principle that all is fair in love and war, Trump and McConnell are not expected to adhere to the same norm or convention.

Amid howls of protests that included calling McConnell a "ghoulish grim reaper" who could not wait for Ginsburg body to get cold before trying to ram home the Republican advantage, workaday people in Washington streamed towards the US Supreme Court building as news of Ginsburg’s death filtered out shortly after 7.30 pm. There, in hushed whispers, many paid tribute to the petite giant dubbed the Notorious RBG, only the second woman to serve on the US Supreme Court after Sandra Day O’Connor, who made some of he most consequential decisions and dissents in US judicial history.

Trump had begun speaking at a rally in Minnesota when news of Ginsburg’s death broke, and his aides thought it fit not to interrupt the President with the news as he rambled on for an hour with yet another frivolous, unhinged speech. When he was finally told the news after he finished, he managed a barely coherent "She just died? Wow. I didn't know that...She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman, whether you agree or not. She was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I'm actually sad to hear that." A more formal, albeit thin, official

White House

statement followed, even as Barack Obama and Bill Clinton (who nominated her to SC in 1993) paid moving tributes.

An epic fight is now expected to unfold over the next few weeks as Trump -- who has been gloating over packing the courts, including the Supreme Court, with conservative judges – moves ahead with a nomination. McConnell is expected to try and rubber stamp it with the 53-47 Republican majority in

the US Senate

, but not without resistance and complications. At least four GOP Senators are said to have reservations about not abiding by the same principle McConnell laid our for Obama's nomination -- no hearing so close to election.

In fact, Democrats are pointing out that early voting has already begun in some states with 46 days to go for Election Day. Besides, Republicans could also lose not just the White House but also their majority in the Senate.

But Trump and McConnell are having none of it. "We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!" Trump tweeted on Saturday morning, explicitly tagging @GOP. From McConnell came a warning Dear Colleague letter to Senators who may not toe the party line. "This is not the time to prematurely lock yourselves into a position you may later regret..."

If the Democrats and dissenting Republican Senators manage to stave off the confirmation, a prospective Biden Presidency is expected to reshape the court, possibly expanding the bench to 13 to overcome the rigged conservative bias that does not reflect the popular sentiment in the country. "The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher. Millions of Americans are counting on us to win and protect the Supreme Court—for their health, for their families, and for their rights," Kamala Harris tweeted, reflecting this sentiment.

On Saturday morning, Kamala Harris, wearing a casual hoodie, sneakers, and shades, and accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, joined a stream of people still trickling up to the footsteps of the Supreme Court to pay tribute to Ginsburg.