The passing of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has changed the dynamic of the already contentious 2020 Election by leaving a vacancy on our nation’s highest court. As Republicans gear up to confirm a new Ninth Associate Justice, they should recognize the gravity of the situation in the same way that the conservative grassroots does. Republicans will need the conservative grassroots if they are to confirm President Trump’s eventual nominee, because the left will stop at nothing to prevent this.
As we well know, the left has wasted no time exploiting the situation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s first response to RBG’s death contained not an expression of grief or a reflection on her incredible life, but yet another thinly veiled recall on the 2016 election results: “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.”
In addition to summing up Democrats’ political strategy of the past four years, Sen. Schumer’s tweet shows how little respect Democrats have for voters on the other side of the aisle. His words are a direct insult to the millions of conservatives in this country who voted for President Trump and Senate Republicans. Don’t these voices matter?
They absolutely do. So Senator Schumer need not worry—through President Trump’s nomination and the Senate’s confirmation, the “American people” will get a say in the selection of a new justice.
Getting more conservative judges in the nation’s courts is one of the main reasons why grassroots conservatives voted for Trump and Senate Republicans in the first place. They want judges who will interpret and apply the Constitution as it was written by the Founders, not according to the trends of the day. Trump has already made good on his promise to fill the courts with conservatives, with the Senate having confirmed more than 200 appointees since the start of his term. The latest Supreme Court vacancy offers an exceptional opportunity for Trump and GOP Senators to seal the deal and show that they firmly have the backs of their supporters.
Former President Barack Obama said it himself: “Presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term. Neither should a senator.” There is no real reason to wait for the next presidential term to ensure there is a full slate of justices on the bench.
Again as expected, Democrats are doing whatever they can to block a successful Court confirmation. Their initial tactic has emerged as an argument over “precedent,” a concept which was evidently lost to them during the impeachment procedures.
Senate Republicans should know that history—the “precedent” at stake—is actually on their side. No Senate has failed to confirm a Court nominee when the party of the president and Senate majority were the same. And of the 29 times that a vacancy has emerged in an election year, 29 times a nominee has been put forth. No need to convince the conservative grassroots of this—they know the facts of the matter and are ready to proceed with confirmation hearings.
But what the left will inevitably turn to is harassment and intimidation. After all, Chuck Schumer himself said that “nothing is off the table” as Democrats mobilize against Trump’s nominee, whoever that may be.
Be warned—the left will stop at nothing to prevent the confirmation of Trump’s nominee. They will go after the nominee’s character and family. They will continue to harass senators at their homes and threaten them with violence.
If the nominee is front-runner Amy Coney Barrett—or any person of faith for that matter—Democrats will dispense with the Constitutional provision that there be no religious litmus tests for civil servants, and demonize her for her Catholic faith. “The dogma lives loudly within you,” stated Sen. Dianne Feinstein during Barrett’s earlier confirmation hearing for the seventh circuit—a public reminder that the Democratic Party has made a chilling return to its anti-Catholic sentiment emblematic of the early 20th century.
The conservative grassroots know this is coming and they will certainly be in Trump’s nominee’s corner. They will have the GOP Senate’s back, and they will be energized to turn out to vote this November.
Getting a constitutionalist on the bench is a once in a lifetime opportunity that Republicans can’t afford to pass up. The president and GOP Senators not only have a constitutional obligation to fill the ninth vacancy—they have an obligation to their grassroots base.
By tirelessly advocating for Republicans and getting them elected to office, the grassroots has done its work. Now it’s time for the president and the Senate to do theirs. The grassroots won’t tolerate a GOP failure to fill the seat.
Parissa Sedghi is an Executive Vice President at FreedomWorks.
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