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Dear Friend,
In her final days, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dictated a message to her granddaughter stating: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed." [1]
We’re standing up for you, RBG, like you did for us. And we’re fighting hard to make your fervent wish a reality.
This is a truly urgent moment. Having the vote before the election results, and while people are already voting early in many states, [2] is a repudiation of the principles the Republicans set out during the Obama administration for Supreme Court nominations. Just a few years ago, even U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, demanded the U.S. Senate wait until after the election to consider then-President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland. In fact, Senator Graham said: "I want you to use my words against me. If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said: Let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination." [3]
Well, Senators, we plan to hold you to your words!
Despite the rule they created and the precedent they vowed to set, within hours of the announcement that Justice Ginsburg had passed and before the nation could even mourn, U.S. Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) began disrespectfully talking about her replacement, breaking his own 2016 stance about how close to a presidential election a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation should happen. [4] In fact, he was doing this even though voting for a new president has already started in four states!
This is unprecedented and unacceptable. As CNN noted: “Only one Supreme Court vacancy has ever been filled this close to a presidential election -- and that was in 1864. This would also be the first Supreme Court appointment by a president after they had been impeached.“ [5]
Her last wish should be the last word.
The U.S. Senate Republican majority is callously and irresponsibly jumping on this Supreme Court opening, ignoring precedent and promises of the past, after ignoring the health and economic emergency caused by COVID-19 for months.
This is not okay. So much is on the line right now with Justice Ginsburg’s replacement, access to affordable health care, voting rights, and more. *Please make sure your U.S. Senators hear from you today. Every Senator, whether Democratic or Republican, needs to hear from you -- we need to shore up our champions and sway those who aren’t on our side yet.
A win is possible. We need less than a handful of additional votes at current count, so please raise your voice now. We’ve won against all odds in the past, like protecting the Affordable Care Act, even when Republican leaders in Congress vowed for many years to repeal it. We won because people signed petitions, made calls, shared their stories and spoke out. And we can win this again if we all raise our voices now -- and vote.
Let’s make Justice Ginsburg’s last fervent wish become a reality. She led the way in breaking through barriers and expanding rights for those whose rights were being trampled in our nation, now let’s lead the way forward for her.
May her memory be a blessing and a revolution. And to make that revolution happen please share this action link around via text, email, and even on Twitter, Facebook and more. Let’s build an unstoppable wave of change.
- Amber, Anita, Aryan, Beatriz, Beth, Casey, Christina, Claudia, Diarra, Diana, Donna, dream, Elyssa, Felicia, Gloria, Hanna, Jessica, Jordan, Joy, Julia, Karen, Keisha, Kelle, Kristin, Linda, Lisa, Lucerecer, Maggie, Marysol, Monifa, Nadia, Nancy, Nate, Nina, Rocío, Rosie, Ruby, Ruth, Sara, Shanette, Sheila, Sili, Sue Anne, Tasmiha, Taylor, Tina, Tola, and Xochitl
P.S.– Election season has already begun, with some states already voting! So if you haven’t already, then please make a plan to vote this year, whether in-person, by mail if your state allows, early voting, or dropbox. And after you make that plan, mark it in your calendar! This is a critically important year. Let's give this election everything we have!
*Here’s a resource to find out more about your state: https://action.momsrising.org/go/67740?t=14&akid=14340%2E2840598%2EWvHTs-
References:
[1] "Late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 'fervent' last wish was that she 'not be replaced until a new president is installed"
[2] "Long lines and hand sanitizer on the first day of early voting for general election"
[3] "Video of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral"
[4] "For McConnell, Ginsburg’s Death Prompts Stark Turnabout From 2016 Stance"
[5] "GOP push to fill RBG's seat could backfire spectacularly"
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