Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and subsequent debates on whether the vacancy should be filled ahead of the November presidential election are expected to be the focus of this weekend’s Sunday talk shows. 

The Supreme Court on Friday announced in a statement that the 87-year-old justice had died due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Ginsburg, a Clinton nominee, became known for her defense of gender equality and civil liberties. In recent years, she was adopted by the progressive movement as a pop culture icon and champion of rights for women and minorities.  

Before her death, Ginsburg dictated to her granddaughter that her “most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” according to a statement obtained by NPR on Friday.  

However, about an hour following the news of Ginsburg’s passing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced he would move to fill the vacancy with one of President Trump’s picks, adding that the commander in chief’s nominee “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Fox News’s Sean Hannity Friday evening following the news of Ginsburg’s death that President Trump should nominate a successor to the court next week. 

“We have a responsibility to do our job,” Cruz said in the interview. “We cannot let Election Day come and go and with a 4-4 court … we risk a constitutional crisis.”

Cruz is set to appear on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who called Ginsburg’s death on Friday “devastating.” 

“Justice Ginsburg embodied justice, brilliance and goodness, and her passing is an incalculable loss for our democracy and for all who sacrifice and strive to build a better future for our children,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Journalist Bob Woodward, whose explosive book “Rage,” was officially released on Tuesday, will be on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” His book drew significant attention last week after Woodward published audio recordings of interviews with Trump, one of which revealed that the president privately acknowledged downplaying the coronavirus threat. 

Adm. Brett Giroir, the Trump administration’s coronavirus testing czar, is expected on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that advised asymptomatic people not to get tested were written by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials instead of scientists.

Giroir told the Times that the original guidance came from the CDC, but he “coordinated editing and input from the scientific and medical members of the [White House coronavirus] task force.”

Below is the full list of guests who will appear on this weekend’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Pelosi; Cruz. 

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar; Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.); Woodward.

CBS’ “Face the Nation”— National security adviser Robert O’Brien; Adam Schechter, chairman, president and CEO of LabCorp; former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

CNN’s “State of the Union” —Giroir; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.); Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). 

“Fox News Sunday” — Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-Founder and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair; Dr. Tom Frieden, Former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives; Marc Short, Chief of Staff to Mike Pence

Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”— Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State; Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Ranking Member House Judiciary Committee; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chairman of the Senate Intel Committee and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Herschel Walker, Former NFL Champion. 

“America This Week with Eric Bolling”— Larry Kudlow, White House Economic Advisor; Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Former Trump Press Secretary; Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.); Michael Knowles, conservatice political commentator; Jack Brewer, Former NFL Player; Ed Norris, Former Maryland Police Commissioner.