Biden says Ginsburg successor should be picked by candidate who wins on Nov. 3

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Friday night that the winner of the Nov. 3 election should get to pick who succeeds the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.

“Let me be clear, that the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the Senate to consider,” Biden said.

Biden noted that in 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blocked Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, from getting a hearing ahead of the 2016 election. Scalia died in mid-February 2016.

“This was the position the Republican Senate took in 2016 when there were almost 10 months to go before the election,” Biden said. “That’s the position the U.S. Senate must take today. The election is only 46 days off. I think the fastest Justice ever confirmed was 47 days and the average is closer to 70 days … that is my hope and expectation of what should happen.”

#BREAKING: Joe Biden on Supreme Court: “There is no doubt — let me be clear — that the voters should pick the President and the President should pick the Justice.” pic.twitter.com/T29hZwRsbq

— The Hill (@thehill) September 19, 2020

Ginsburg died Friday night just weeks before the 2020 election.

Republicans expect President Trump to nominate a replacement in the coming days. McConnell has said the nominee will get a vote on the floor of the Senate.