The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's last wish was to not be replaced until a new president was sworn into office, NPR reports.
"My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," Ginsburg told her granddaughter just days before her death, according to NPR.
The liberal icon's death Friday will ignite a political firestorm over whether a new Supreme Court Justice should be nominated and confirmed before the November election.
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG DEAT AT 87
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that the nominee to fill Ginsburg's vacancy “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Democrats have accused McConnell of hypocrisy due to his treatment of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals chief Judge Merrick Garland, who former President Barack Obama nominated to the Supreme Court to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. McConnell and his Senate majority refused to hold a hearing or vote on Merrick's nomination because of the 2016 presidential election.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday that Ginsburg should not be replaced until a new president is inaugurated.
"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice," Schumer tweeted Friday. "Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president."
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., backed up Schumer's position Friday.
"Under no circumstances should the Senate consider a replacement for Justice Ginsburg until after the presidential inauguration," Feinstein said in a statement Friday. "Senator McConnell made his position clear in 2016 when he held Justice Scalia’s seat vacant for 10 months so he could deny President Obama an appointment – a goal he himself admitted."
READ: SUPREME COURT'S STATEMENT ON RUTH BADER GINSBURG'S DEATH
McConnell claims this situation is different because Obama was a lame-duck president, whereas Trump could potentially be reelected to a second term. He also contrasts the 2020 situation by pointing out that Republicans currently control the White House and Senate, whereas Democrats only controlled the White House in 2016.
"Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary," McConnell said in a statement Friday. "President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."
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