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Lawmakers react to the news of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. As lawmakers react to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, mourners gather outside the Supreme Court.
(32 minutes later)
Shortly after the news of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle praised the trailblazing jurist who died Friday at the age of 87. Justice Ginsburg’s death could inflame partisan polarization amid a tense presidential campaign season.
Her death could inflame partisan polarization even more as both parties campaign for the presidency — and for the power to appoint justices to the country’s highest court. But in a show of togetherness on Friday night as the news began to spread in Washington, some people gravitated to the steps of the Supreme Court building. The gathering became a crowd, and a vigil. Some people carried candles, and some shed tears.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said on Twitter. “Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.” Across the United States, people have participated in an outpouring of grief for the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and a pioneering advocate for women’s rights.
He was echoing, verbatim, language used by Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to justify a refusal to confirm President Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. “Ruthie was my friend and I will miss her terribly,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts and a former presidential candidate, said on Twitter.
In an interview earlier this month, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the Republican lawmaker who cast a crucial vote confirming Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, indicated she would be uneasy about seating another justice in October. “I think that’s too close, I really do,” said Ms. Collins. “As a young mom heading off to Rutgers law school, I saw so few examples of female lawyers or law professors,” she added. “But Ruthie blazed the trail. I’m forever grateful for her example — to me, and to millions of young women who saw her as a role model.”
Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska who voted against Mr. Kavanaugh’s confirmation, told reporters earlier Friday — before the news of Justice Ginsburg’s death was announced — that she would not vote to fill a Supreme Court vacancy before the election. “Fair is fair,” she said. The chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr., said in a statement released by the court: “Our nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice.”
It takes a majority in the Senate, 51 votes, to confirm a nominee to the Supreme Court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the loss was “devastating.”
“Every family in America benefited from her brilliant legacy and courage,” she added in a statement. “Her opinions have unequivocally cemented the precedent that all men and women are created equal.”
In recent years, as the court has tilted to the right, Justice Ginsberg became the senior member and de facto leader of a four-justice liberal bloc, drawing attention with her powerful and pointed dissenting opinions. A law student, Shana Knizhnik, anointed her the Notorious R.B.G., a play on the name of the Notorious B.I.G., a famous rapper who was Brooklyn-born, like the justice.
“Gutted,” Ms. Knizhnik tweeted on Friday. “Thank you for everything, R.B.G. May your memory be a blessing.”
Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be a major-party candidate for president, said that “Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me.”
“There will never be another like her,” she added.