The last tug of war?
Last week, US Supreme Court Associate Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, better known as the 'Notorious RBG' passed away. In her wake, America has not only lost one of its most outspoken and principled voices of dissent but her passing has set off what could be the last big bang in the Republican vs Democrat political slugfest ahead of the November election. Ginsburg, one of the four liberals on the nine-seat Supreme Court Bench, was the oldest Judge in the American SC. Her health and hospital visits were a frequent source of speculation and anxiety for the liberal crowd which saw Ginsburg as a bastion of liberal belief at the highest court in America. Already, with multiple Trump nominations, the US Supreme Court has a majority conservative bench. Now, the conservative majority will become even more significant. US Supreme Court judges get elected for life. As such, electing judges of compatible political leaning not only becomes one of the most important tasks for any Presidential candidate but also is one of the most desired outcomes for the two major US parties. In fact, many critics of the Trump administration have proposed that the unwavering Republican support of Trump and his policies is largely based on his success at appointing enough SC judges to gain a conservative majority.
Ginsburg was a symbol to both sides of the political aisle. Her unwavering commitment to her work (rarely missing any hearings in the last several decades) and her approach to slowly pushing liberal reform through an otherwise rigid system won her as many admirers as enemies. To the liberals, she was, as stated previously, a bastion. For the conservatives, she was an ever-widening breach in the old and defined ways of running society. Above all, Ruth had truly rare popularity amongst the youth who saw her as an icon of liberal principles in the middle of a swamp of corruption and partisan politics. It was precisely such qualities that made her the linchpin in the ever-widening Republican-Democratic tiff. Republicans made no secret of wishing to replace her as soon as the opportunity presented itself and Ginsburg, presumably aware of this, vowed to keep working till her last days. She very nearly did. In light of such facts, it is not surprising that both Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell wasted little time in pretension and rushed to announce that a replacement for Ginsburg would be ready for a vote by next week. Trump has suggested that the replacement should also be a woman, albeit a female judge from the conservative camp. Of course, there are other candidates amongst them with Indian-American Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amul Thapar being one of the top candidates.
But the debate at present is not who should replace Ginsburg but who should elect the replacement and when it should be done. By the actual rules, there is no restriction on the US President to not elect SC judges ahead of the elections. Indeed, it is not surprising to note that the first time this became an issue was during the highly contentious Obama administration days and the one responsible for making this an issue was none other than Mitch McConnell himself who in 2016, blocked President Obama's SC elect eight months ahead of the elections. His reason? To apparently provide US voters to have a hand in the process by first electing a new candidate. Why this same logic does not apply a little more than a month before the election is not really a matter of debate or confusion. McConnell has been clear in his assertion that precedents, even those set by him, will not stop him from pushing on towards his political goals of establishing continuing Republican dominance. Naturally, the Democrats and their candidates are trying to fight the nomination. Indeed, it is known that one of Ginsburg's last wishes was for the election of her successor to be delayed until after the elections were done. It is unlikely that this will be the case. The Republicans look determined to push the nominee across no matter the cost and they have the Senate majority to do so. Though again, this is contingent on no Republicans breaking rank on the matter and this is no guarantee either. Still, no one is backing down. These are extraordinary times and if the conservative tilt for the US SC is further emphasised, it will likely affect lawmaking for generations.