President Trump urges Supreme Court Justice vote 'without delay'

Video report by ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore

President Donald Trump has said the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg should be filled "without delay".

Speaking on Saturday, the president urged the Republican-run Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination to the high court.

“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us,” Trump tweeted.

"The most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!”

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, just six weeks before the US presidential election, has sparked heated debate over whether President Trump should nominate, and the Republican-led Senate should confirm, her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of his race against Democrat Joe Biden is known.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said late on Friday that the Senate will vote on President Trump’s pick, even though it’s an election year.

However Biden has vigorously disagreed, declaring that “voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider.”

McConnell, who sets the calendar in the Senate and has made judicial appointments his priority, declared unequivocally in a statement shortly after Ms Ginsburg's death was announced that Trump’s nominee would receive a confirmation vote in the chamber.

A confirmation vote in the Senate is not guaranteed, even with a Republican majority, and it typically takes several months to vet and hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday aged 87 Credit: Craig Fritz/AP

  • What is the future of the Supreme Court now?

When Mr Scalia died in 2016, also an election year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to act on Mr Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the opening.

McConnell refused to consider President Obama’s choice for the high court months ahead of the election - eventually preventing a vote.

The seat remained vacant until after Mr Trump’s surprise presidential victory. Mr McConnell has said he would move to confirm a Trump nominee if there were a vacancy this year.

Contacted by phone late on Friday, Republican senator Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, declined to disclose any plans.

But Mr Trump will almost certainly try to push Ms Ginsburg’s successor through the Republican-controlled Senate — and move the conservative court even more to the right.

While Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer tweeted: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

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