Trump promises to nominate woman within a week
‘I will fight!’: mourners’ vow at supreme court vigil
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Obituary: ‘Formidably clever with a superhuman capacity for work’
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If he wins a US Senate seat in Arizona, the former astronaut Mark Kelly could take office as early as 30 November, an outcome which might jeopardize the launch of Donald Trump’s third supreme court nominee. The Democratic candidate has maintained a polling lead over the Republican Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat held by John McCain, who died in 2018. Because the contest is a special election to finish McCain’s term, the winner could be sworn in as soon as the results are certified. Other winners in November’s contest, in which Democrats hope to retake the Senate, will not take office until January. Trump has pledged to nominate a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has vowed that the nominee “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate”.If Kelly wins, when he takes office could be crucial in deciding the ensuing nomination fight. Republicans currently hold the chamber by 53 seats to 47. The prospect of falling to 52 could prompt McConnell to speed up the nomination process. With McSally in the Senate, four defections would defeat a nomination. A tie vote could be broken by Vice-President Mike Pence. Within hours of the announcement of Ginsberg’s death, McSally declared that “this US Senate should vote on President Trump’s next nominee for the US supreme court”. She has not elaborated on whether the vote should come before or after the election. But she highlighted the renewed stakes of her race in a fundraising pitch on Saturday. “If Mark Kelly comes out on top, HE could block President Trump’s supreme court Nominee from being confirmed,” McSally wrote. In the 2018 midterms, Democrats found success in Arizona, long dominated by the GOP, by appealing to Republicans and independents disaffected with Trump. The supreme court vacancy could boost McSally by keeping those voters in her camp. Kelly said late on Saturday: “The people elected to the presidency and Senate in November should fill this vacancy. When it comes to making a lifetime appointment to the supreme court, Washington shouldn’t rush that process for political purposes.” Arizona law requires election results to be certified on the fourth Monday after the election, which falls this year on 30 November. The certification could be delayed up to three days if the state has not received election results from any of its 15 counties. Mary O’Grady, a Democratic lawyer, said the deadlines are firm. “I don’t see ambiguity here,” said O’Grady, Arizona’s solicitor general under two Democratic attorneys general, adding that state law allows recounts and election challenges only under very limited circumstances. Former Senate historian Don Ritchie told the Arizona Republic, which first reported on the prospect for Kelly taking office early a day before Ginsburg’s death: “Usually, the secretary of the Senate’s office goes out of its way to accommodate the new senators coming in.“The old senator is out of their office there. I mean, they actually literally put a lock on the door so their staff can’t go in.” More
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Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina, the US president told supporters he had a duty to nominate a candidate to fill the supreme court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ‘It will be a woman,’ Trump said. ‘A very talented, very brilliant woman.’
Democrats including Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have said Republicans should follow the precedent that GOP legislators set in 2016 by refusing to consider a supreme court choice in the run-up to an election
Trump vows to nominate a woman for US supreme court vacancy within a week
‘I will fight!’: mourners’ vow at supreme court vigil for Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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On a pavement across the street from the supreme court, school teacher Amanda Stafford chalked the words carefully: “That’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow.”It was a quotation from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a justice more renowned for her dissents than her majority opinions, including on the Bush v Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential election. Ginsburg died from pancreatic cancer on Friday aged 87, the newest jolt to an angry, divided and fragile nation.On Saturday night, as summer succumbed to the chill of autumn, thousands came to mourn her at a vigil outside the court in Washington. Some made speeches. Others sang songs. More joined hands or laid flowers and candles. Stafford paid tribute in chalk.“I wanted to show words that are empowering at a time when a lot of people are feeling worn out,” the 31-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia, explained. “As a woman in a country getting ever more divided, it’s important to come out and make a stand for someone who made this her life’s work.”What is the state of American democracy that one single woman passing away feels like a harbinger of hopelessness?Amanda StaffordLike many others, including numerous mothers and daughters, Stafford was hit hard by the loss of the feminist lodestar.“I broke down crying and went to sit in a park, sobbing. I called my closest girlfriends and we cried together. What is the state of American democracy that one single woman passing away feels like a harbinger of hopelessness? We’re already in a pandemic and losing her felt like the end.”Stafford’s homage was one of many outside the court, built in the 1930s in classical style to project the full majesty of the law, its 16 marble columns illuminated as two US flags flew at half mast. “RIP RGB,” said one banner in the rainbow colours of the LGBTQ movement. “For my daughter,” said another, simply.“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time – Ruth Bader Ginsburg” was written on cardboard sign amid a sea of pictures, candles and flowers. “She kept theology off our biology” was among the acknowledgements of Ginsburg’s support for reproductive rights. More
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There was nothing subtle about Jill Biden’s fashion statement last Monday: the word “VOTE” was spelled out in silver capitals on her black, knee-high boots as she accompanied husband and Democratic presidential candidate Joe to the ballot box in a Delaware primary.Biden’s boots were designed by Stuart Weitzman, with 100% of profits going to public awareness campaign I am Voter. In the run-up to a momentous presidential election in November, they are just the latest example of the word ‘Vote’ becoming the only slogan worth wearing in the US this autumn.Last month, a gold “V-O-T-E” necklace, worn by Michelle Obama during her speech at the digital Democratic National Convention, went viral online.Meanwhile, music phenom Lizzo has designed her own “VOTE” mask, in collaboration with sunglasses brand Quay, of which she said: “The power of voting in midterm and local elections wasn’t something I was taught in school. I want to be part of informing future generations of our power.”Other political figures ranging from actor and activist Cynthia Nixon to Hillary Clinton have been photographed wearing “Vote” face masks.And not to be outdone, Mariah Carey, Bella Hadid and Samuel L Jackson have posed in “Vote” and “Your Voice Matters” T-shirts of late.A raft of designers and retailers are in on the action, from vote-branded earrings doing brisk business on Etsy to Levi’s “VOTE” hoodies and Michael Kors’ “Vote” T-shirts, which raise money for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund.Patagonia joined in, stitching the words “Vote the assholes out” into the labels of its shorts.This trend is no accident. Much of the merchandise has been prompted by campaigning organisations and seeks to attract and persuade younger people, who are traditionally under-represented in voter registration.“We very intentionally work with retailers who reach young demographics,” said Andy Bernstein, executive director at HeadCount, a voting advocacy group that works with brands such as American Eagle Outfitters.The organisation has also distributed “Vote” masks to musicians and social media influencers, including singer Kesha, who was later spotted wearing it in public.“Fashion drives culture and cultural shifts drive voter turnout,” Bernstein added. More
