Vote without delay: Donald Trump says theres an obligation to fill justice Ginsburg’s seat

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that Republicans have an ‘obligation’ to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat in the Supreme Court following her death. The President also said that he will soon name the successor to liberal Justice.

“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had told her granddaughter days before her death. 

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“@GOP 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,” the President tweeted.

Shortly after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell had announced that “Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” This had set the stage for a new political battle in the US, as it breaches a precedent set by the Senate Republicans in 2016 to not consider a nominee during an election year.

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In 2016, McConnell himself had blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace the conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, arguing that in a presidential election year, voters should decide who gets to make the nomination.

At least four Republicans senators, including Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, had said they will oppose a vote before the election.