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China Daily Global / 2020-09 / 23 / Page007

US leader presses on with pick for judge

By AI HEPING in New York | China Daily Global | Updated: 2020-09-23 00:00

US President Donald Trump said he would "probably" name a nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court on Saturday, after services honoring the 27-year court veteran are concluded.

Mourners will be able to view Ginsburg's casket in a public tribute this week outside the country's highest court in Washington.

Ginsburg's death on Friday, after a long illness, sparked an outpouring of praise for her contributions as a liberal stalwart of the court-and a political debate over when her replacement should be picked.

Ginsburg, who was 87 and died of metastatic pancreatic cancer, will lie in repose in the viewing on Wednesday and Thursday until 10 pm, so people can pay their respects. The public viewing is a rarely accorded honor.

She will then lie in state on Friday in the US Capitol. She will be interred in a private ceremony next week at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where her husband, Martin Ginsburg, is also buried.

Trump said that confirmation by the Senate of a replacement for Ginsburg should happen swiftly.

He also questioned what National Public Radio had reported as Ginsburg's dying wish to her granddaughter-that she not be replaced until the next president is chosen. Trump said it sounded like "it came out of the wind" and suggested that one of his Democratic opponents could have made it up.

Trump said he is looking at five potential nominees. He said all are "young" and that one is 38 years old and could be on the court for 50 years. It has been reported that Allison Jones Rushing, who is on the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals, is being considered. She is 38.

Trump also praised US Circuit Court Judge Barbara Lagoa, who is from Florida, a key election swing state. "She's a terrific woman from everything I know."

In remarks on the Senate floor on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, praised Ginsburg but then defended his decision to press ahead with the confirmation process before the Nov 3 presidential election.

Democrats have accused McConnell of "brazen hypocrisy" because he previously blocked then-president Barack Obama's nominee for a vacant post eight months before the 2016 election, when the Republican leader insisted voters should first have their say.

Republicans now argue that the circumstances were different as a Democrat was in the White House, and the Republicans controlled the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer implored Senate Republicans to wait for the results of the election and warned of consequences if they pressed ahead. Some Democrats have said that if they win the Senate on Nov 3 they would consider adding additional seats to the nation's highest court.

People honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg at a vigil for the US Supreme Court veteran of 27 years in Monument Square in Portland, Maine, on Sunday. ELIZABETH FRANTZ/REUTERS

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