Late last week, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, and President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promptly began pushing the idea of rushing the confirmation of a replacement for Ginsburg. That push contrasts strikingly with the precedent that Senate Republicans themselves set in 2016 when they refused to even hold a vote on then-President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, citing the imminent presidential election. During an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insisted that Democrats have “our options” when responding to a potential rushed replacement for Ginsburg. Ominously for Trump, Pelosi insisted that “protecting our democracy requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.”
Schumer tells Dems: “Let me be clear: if Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year. Nothing is off the table,” per source on call
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 19, 2020
Her remarks mirror recent remarks from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who told his colleagues on a phone conference that “nothing is off the table” as a potential response to Republicans. Some people have suggested adding justices to the court if Democrats gain control of the Senate.
Pelosi told host George Stephanopoulos:
‘We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now, but the fact is, we have a big challenge in this country. This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election with statements that he and his henchmen have made. So right now, our main goal — and, [what] I think, Ruth Bader Ginsburg would want that to be — would be to protect the integrity of the election as we protect the American people from the Coronavirus. I have faith in the American people… the fact is, this administration has been a total failure in protecting the health and wellbeing of the American people.’
On the subject of what people can do to respond to the crisis, she added:
‘When people say, what can I do? You can vote, you can get out the vote, and you can do so as soon as possible.’
Early voting has already started in some states around the country.
One voter told me: “I was already anticipating on coming out to vote early but after the passing of RBG last night, I made sure I was here at 7:30 this morning…We need to come out to vote like our lives depend on it so that's why I'm here.”
More coming up on @MSNBC https://t.co/Emev8I55T8
— Amanda Golden (@amandawgolden) September 19, 2020
After Stephanopoulos further questioned whether anything was off the table in formulating a response to the possibility of the Senate confirming a third Trump pick even after his potential presidential election loss, Pelosi said:
‘We have a responsibility. We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. When we weigh the equities of protecting our democracy, [it] requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.’
Watch her Sunday comments below:
“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” Speaker Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos when pressed on what Democrats would do if Pres. Trump and Republicans push a SCOTUS nomination ahead of the Nov. 3 election. https://t.co/JhU93KY3iQ pic.twitter.com/HOmI8AxREN
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 20, 2020
