Dems warn over quick try to fill Supreme vacancy

Democrats slammed President Trump’s efforts to ram through a nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the Friday death of iconic Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“To jam this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power, and I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it,” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Sunday in Philadelphia.

“If we go down this path, I predict it will cause irreversible damage,” he continued. “The infection this president has unleashed on our democracy can be fatal. Enough, enough, enough.” h

The comments came after Trump on Saturday vowed to fill the vacancy “without delay” and as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was expected to begin organizing the confirmation process this week.

The steps are especially galling to Democrats in light of McConnell’s successful 2016 effort to block then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, when McConnell argued months before that year’s presidential election that the process shouldn’t come until after the vote.

Biden noted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who supported McConnell’s tactics in 2016, asked Americans to “use my words against me” if Graham reversed his stance during a Republican administration, which has proven to be the case.

Still, Biden (photo), who served as vice president under Obama, made an appeal to Republicans “who know deep down what is right for the country and consistent for the Constitution … not just what’s best for the party.”

“Even if President Trump wants to put forward a name now, the Senate should not act until after the American people select their next president, their next Congress, their next Senate,” he said.

Citing reports that Ginsburg’s dying wish was for her seat to remain vacant until the presidential inauguration, Biden said: “As a nation, we should heed her final call to us, not as a personal service to her but as a service to the country.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Dems are ready to play hardball on the Supreme Court seat.

“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about too discuss right now, but the fact iss we have a big challenge in our country,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Right now, our main goal — annd I think Ruth Bader Ginsburg would want that too be — would be to protect theh integrity of the election as we protect the American people from the coronavirus,” she added.

Pelosi had been asked about the possibility of impeaching President Trump or Attorney General Bill Barr to delay the White House’s efforts to replace Ginsburg before the November presidential election.

“We’ve taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Pelosi said. “We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. That is when we weigh the equities of protecting our democracy requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.”

Trump’s push suffered a setback Sunday when Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska became the second Republican senator to say she opposes filling the Supreme Court vacancy before the election.

On Saturday, Maine Sen. Susan Collins voiced her opposition to filling the seat before Nov. 3.

“For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election,” Murkowski said in a statement. “Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed.”

Ginsburg died of complications from cancer at age 87.