THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT
RBG RECEIVES HISTORIC TRIBUTE AT U.S. CAPITOL TRUMP EXPECTED TO TAP CONEY BARRETT TODAY
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was remembered Friday as a boundarybreaking trailblazer who “changed the course of American law,” as she became the first woman and Jewish person in American history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
Though Ginsburg’s death last week at 87 has sparked a political firestorm in the nation’s capital with less than six weeks to go until the November election, Friday’s service was mostly focused on celebrating and honoring the justice’s life, career and legacy.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who gave the green light for Ginsburg to be given the solemn honor, opened the ceremony by noting that it was with “profound sorrow and deep sympathy” that she welcomed the late justice to the Capitol one last time.
The voice of Denyca Graves, one of Ginsburg’s favorite opera singers, then sang a selection of the justice’s favorite musical selections as her family members and prominent politicians, including Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), looked on.
There was even a moment of levity, as Ginsburg’s personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, did three full-on push-ups in front of her flag-draped casket, which was perched on the same catafalque constructed for President Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 service.
The ceremony’s only eulogist, Lauren Holtzblatt, Ginsburg’s rabbi, brought the ceremony back into the politically fraught context of her death.
“It was Justice Ginsburg’s tenacious hope to preserve the integrity of the court,” Holtzblatt said. “Today, we stand in sorrow and tomorrow, we the people, must carry on Justice Ginsburg’s legacy. Even as our hearts are breaking, we must rise with her strength and move forward.”
At the outset of her remarks, Holzblatt turned directly to Biden and Harris and said, “Thank you.”
The rabbi’s plea for integrity and nod to Biden comes as President Trump is rushing to replace r Ginsburg by Nov. 3, even e though the justice’s final wish was for her seat not to be filled before the inauguration.
Trump plans to unveil his pick to replace Ginsburg on Saturday, just 38 days before the November election.
Senate Republicans — who refused to even consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme S Court pick in 2016 because they claimed vacancies should not be filled in an election year — are then set to promptly push Trump’s nominee through the confirmation process in hopes of having her seated on the bench by Election Day.
Trump, who got heckled when he paid his respects to Ginsburg as she lied in repose at the Supreme Court on Thursday, was not present at Friday’s historic ceremony.
Instead, he spent the morning pumping out dozens of retweets promoting unhinged conspiracy theories about Obama, including one that claimed the former president “spied” on his 2016 campaign.
Later in the day, Trump addressed his plan for a rapid Ginsburg replacement during an event in Atlanta.
“We are appointing a Supreme Court justice,” Trump said, prompting the crowd to launch into a “fill the seat” chant.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who’s spearheading the push for Trump’s Supreme Court pick, was invited to the Capitol service but didn’t show up. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the No. 2 Republican in the House, was among the few GOP members present.
Harris, who will play a major role in grilling Trump’s Supreme Court pick as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took the high road when asked after Friday’s ceremony if she was outraged by the Republican push to replace Ginsburg against her wishes.
“Today, I’m just really thinking about RBG,” Harris told reporters. “She first of all made America see what leadership looks like, and in the law, in terms of public service, and she broke so many barriers. And I know that she did it intentionally, knowing that ppeople like me could follow.”
Holtzblatt echoed Harris’ message in her eulogy, describing how Ginsburg rose aagainst all odds to become one of the most important jurists inn American history.
“After transferring to Coluumbia Law School, she graduated first in her class. Yet, she could not find a job. No firm in New York would hire her because she was a woman,” HHoltzblatt said.
But the obstacles of sexism didn’t deter her and she persevered to become the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993, Holtzblatt said.
“All the days of her life, she pursued justice, even in illness,” the rabbi said, recalling Ginsburg’s long battle with cancer. “Brick by brick, case by case, through meticulous, careful lawyering, she changed the course of American law.”
Ginsburg will be buried next week beside her husband, in Arlington National Cemetery.