After the passing of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lawmakers are at odds over who will fill her vacancy.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced late Friday night that the Senate plans to vote on President Trump’s supreme court justice nominee.
Democrats are already pushing back against the decision saying the next president should decide who fills the role of their predecessor.
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In Central Florida, local government leaders are offering their thoughts after Ginsburg’s death.
We asked News 6 Political Analyst and UCF History Professor Jim Clark to give us his thoughts on the situation considering the county is days away from a presidential election.
“He can nominate someone and the question is, whether he will use this to help his reelection chances," Clark said. “For example, nominating a Latino from Florida. That would be the first question. The second question is whether the Democrats can mount any kind of an effort to stop the Republicans.”
According to the professor, the Republicans have 53 votes and have control of the Senate.
When asked about his thoughts after hearing of the justice’s passing, Clark had his to say:
“I think it became political very quickly. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Within an hour there were already charges and counter-charges between Republicans and Democrats, so the mourning period was fairly short,” Clark added.
Joe Biden shared his thoughts on the process after landing in Delaware Friday.
“Let me be clear, voters should pick the president, the president should pick the justice for the Senate to consider,” Biden said.
Trump had released an updated list of conservatives who would be under consideration for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should he be given the opportunity.
He noted that among those on his list was Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican he vanquished in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.
Late Friday night, President Trump issued a statement praising Ginsburg for her “brilliant mind and her powerful dissents” and her ability to “disagree without being disagreeable.”
“May her memory be a great and magnificent blessing to the world,” Trump said.