The Epoch Times
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told his colleagues during a Democratic caucus call on Saturday afternoon that retaliation is possible if Republicans fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the inauguration in January.
“Let me be clear: if Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year,” Schumer said, according to Politico. “Nothing is off the table.”
The New York senator added that “everything Americans value is at stake” and that Democrats should highlight the impact filling the vacancy would have on health care and civil rights, among other issues.
Ginsburg passed away on Friday evening at her home in Washington surrounded by her family members. A private service for the former justice will be held at Arlington National Ceremony in Virginia.
Trump said on Saturday that he intends to nominate a woman to fill the seat and urged Republicans to vote on the confirmation without delay.
Democrats have proposed a number of potential retaliatory steps should they win control of the White House and Senate in the election in November. One option would be to eliminate the Senate’s filibuster rule, which would make the chamber more like the House, where the majority always prevails. Another possibility would be to expand the number of judges on the Supreme Court bench, a practice referred to as “packing the court.”
