Trump Indicates He Will 'Move Quickly' To Replace Ginsburg

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump on Saturday indicated he would "move quickly" to nominate a successor to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In a tweet to the Republican National Committee, the president said the government is "obligated" to select a new Supreme Court Justice.

"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," Trump tweeted.

The president's comments come after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — who refused to allow a vote on President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court four years ago — announced that Trump's nominee to replace her will move forward.

McConnell issued the statement within hours of Ginsburg's death.

Ginsburg died Friday at age 87.

"President Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate," McConnell said in a statement.

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The statement from McConnell is sure to open another fiery front in the campaign for the 2020 election, made even more intense from the Senate leader's action only four years ago.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called on the Senate to wait until the outcome of November's election before considering a replacement for Ginsburg, but McConnell had already issued his statement justifying an immediate vote.

"This was the position the Republican Senate took in 2016 when there were almost 10 months to go before the election,” Biden said in his statement. “That’s the position the U.S. Senate must take today. The election is only 46 days off. I think the fastest Justice ever confirmed was 47 days and the average is closer to 70 days…that is my hope and expectation of what should happen.”

In a separate statement, Obama echoed Biden, calling for "consistency" from Senate Republicans.

"A basic principle of the law — and of everyday fairness — is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment," Obama said. "The rule of law, the legitimacy of our courts, the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic principle. As votes are already being cast in this election, Republican Senators are now called to apply that standard. "

McConnell said the circumstances are different this year.

"In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term," McConnell said in his statement. " We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year.

"By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise."

Trump spoke privately with McConnell on Friday night following the news of Ginsburg’s death, according to the Washington Post, laying out his preferences for who should replace the liberal justice.

President Trump on Wednesday previously issued a new list of 20 potential nominees to the court, an issue he believes helped him win election four years ago.

Depending on whether a nomination goes through, the makeup of the court could be shifted for years to come.

Nina Totenberg, NPR’s Supreme Court correspondent and a longtime friend of Ginsburg’s, reported that the justice in recent days dictated a statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”