Pres Trump, Democrats Thrust Supreme Court Fight Forward as a Central Issue in November Election; (Poll) People favor confirmation hearings for Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, and related stories

Trump, Democrats thrust Supreme Court fight forward as a central issue in November election:

President Donald Trump and Democrats moved Saturday to frame the debate over a sudden Supreme Court vacancy as a defining issue in the November election, with each side counting on a divisive and historic process to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a catalyst to energize their voters and donors.

Even before Trump has named a nominee for the seat, Democrats and Republicans launched into a bitter debate over the timing of the confirmation, underscoring the enormous stakes at play for a president eager to fulfill his promise to steer the court further to the right and Democrats’ desire to stop him.

The vacancy hands Trump an unexpected opportunity to fire up his voters and shift the narrative of the election away from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent economic fallout. For Democrats, the fight is about nothing less than replacing a justice who had become a liberal hero, a bulwark against immigration, abortion and other policies embraced by Trump. —>READ MORE HERE

People favor confirmation hearings for Supreme Court vacancy in 2020: Poll:

A new poll conducted shortly before the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealed that an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults of all political stripes supported holding hearings for a nominee if a vacancy opened on the nation’s highest bench.

Marquette University released the survey results on Saturday that showed 67% of adults believed the Senate should hold a hearing if a vacancy occurred during 2020’s race, with only 32% opposition — and similar strong numbers across Republicans, Democrats, and independents, who supported holding confirmation hearings at 68-31%, 63-37%, and 71-28% respectively. The poll was completed three days before the death of Ginsburg, the 87-year-old liberal icon who was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed in 1993. Ginsburg earned praise from Democrats and Republicans upon news of her death.

Ginsburg’s death in the middle of 2020’s election drew comparisons to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the 79-year-old conservative icon, Ronald Reagan appointee, and longtime Ginsburg friend, who died in February 2016 during the Democratic and Republican primaries. President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, to fill Scalia’s vacancy that March. But Senate Republicans declined to hold confirmation hearings or a vote, arguing that they wouldn’t confirm a justice appointed by a lame-duck president of the opposite party and that the winner in the 2016 election should fill the vacancy. —>READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to related stories:

Lindsey Graham Says He Backs Trump in ‘Any Effort to Move Forward’ on RBG Vacancy

Ted Cruz Warns of ‘Crisis’ if SCOTUS Seat Isn’t Filled Before Election Day

History Is on the Side of Republicans Filling a Supreme Court Vacancy in 2020

Who might succeed Justice Ginsburg? Trump’s short list begins with these five women (and one man)

White House Counsel, Others Steer Trump’s Supreme Court Nomination Strategy

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