总统唐纳德·特朗普据多位接近总统并直接了解情况的消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，预计将在未来几天提名一名候选人填补鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格在最高法院的席位。
消息来源称，潜在候选人名单很短，至少包括一名女性。两个消息来源告诉美国广播公司新闻，美国巡回法官艾米·科尼·巴雷特被认为是一个主要的竞争者。
特朗普在周五晚上离开明尼苏达州的竞选集会后被问及金斯伯格的死亡，并表示他不知道她的去世。87岁的法官死亡周五，在与胰腺癌斗争后，法院宣布。
“哇。我不知道。我只是——你现在第一次告诉我，”他告诉记者。“她过着惊人的生活。你还能说什么?她是个了不起的女人。不管你是否同意，她是一个了不起的女人，过着了不起的生活。听到这个我真的很难过。听到这个消息我很难过。”
消息人士补充说，在金斯伯格去世的消息宣布后，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔已经与共和党核心小组成员联系。参议院只需要简单的多数就能确认提名人，共和党目前拥有53个席位。
麦康奈尔拒绝在2016年让时任总统巴拉克·奥巴马提名的人取代安东宁·斯卡利亚梅里克·加兰——到会场投票，但表示他这次不会这么做。
奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂影像公司
参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。，2020年9月15日，华盛顿特区，国会大厦哈特参议院办公楼，共和党每周政策午餐会后对记者说
“在2016年斯卡利亚大法官去世前的最后一次中期选举中，美国人选择了共和党参议院多数席位，因为我们承诺要检查和平衡跛脚鸭总统第二任期的最后几天。我们遵守了诺言。自19世纪80年代以来，没有参议院在总统选举年确认过反对党总统的最高法院提名人，”麦康奈尔在金斯伯格死后的一份声明中说。
“相比之下，美国人在2016年再次当选并在2018年扩大了我们的多数席位，因为我们承诺与特朗普总统合作，支持他的议程，特别是他在联邦司法机构的出色任命。我们将再次信守承诺，”他继续说道。"特朗普总统的提名人将在美国参议院获得投票。"
特朗普在2016年3月告诉CNN，他认为下一任总统——大概是他——应该选择被提名人，而不是奥巴马。
“我认为下一任总统应该做出选择，我认为他们不应该前进，”他在2016年3月16日接受《新一天》采访时说。“我相信我与共和党人所说的基本一致。我认为下一任总统应该做出选择。我们没有很长的路要等。”
共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)甚至在2016年的一次现场演讲中说，共和党人已经正式改变了程序，如果最高法院在2020年出现空缺，他会播放这段视频。
他说:“如果2016年有一位共和党总统，而第一个任期的最后一年出现空缺，你可以说林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)说，让下一任总统(无论是谁)提名，你可以用我的话来反对我，你绝对是对的。”“我们今天在这里开创了一个先例。”
最高法院女发言人凯西·阿尔贝格说:“由于转移性胰腺癌的并发症，助理法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格今晚在家人的陪同下在家中去世。”。
奥巴马发布了一份声明，既赞扬了金斯堡的优点，同时提醒共和党人他们在2016年的决定。
他在一份声明中说:“四年半前，当共和党人拒绝就梅里克·加兰举行听证会或投票时，他们发明了一个原则，即在新总统宣誓就职之前，参议院不应填补最高法院的空缺席位。”“法律和日常公平的一个基本原则是，我们应用规则时要保持一致，而不是基于当下的便利或优势。”
“法治、法院的合法性、民主的基本运作都取决于这一基本原则，”他继续说道。“由于本次选举已经开始投票，共和党参议员现在被要求采用这一标准。
现任民主党总统候选人乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在加兰获得提名时是副总统，周五晚些时候，他在明尼苏达州竞选归来时在特拉华州告诉记者，共和党人应该坚持他们在2016年所说的话。
“在接下来的日子里，我们应该关注正义的丧失，以及她持久的遗产。但毫无疑问——让我明确一点，选民应该选择总统，总统应该选择让参议院考虑的正义，”拜登说。“这是共和党参议院在2016年采取的立场，当时距离选举还有将近10个月。这是美国参议院今天必须采取的立场。”
亚历克斯·王/盖蒂影像公司
2016年5月10日，在国会山，最高法院提名人、哥伦比亚特区巡回法院首席法官梅里克·加兰(Merrick Garland)在与美国参议员布莱恩·沙茨(Brian Schatz)的会议上。
即使提名人被提出，在选举日之前确认正义的时间表似乎很紧。根据国会研究服务部的数据，从SCOTUS提名到参议院最终投票的平均天数为69.6天，约2.3个月。
在总统选举年，最高法院有大量提名和确认的先例。自1900年以来已经发生了六次。最近一次在选举年的提名和确认是在1940年，在皮尔斯·巴特勒大法官去世后，富兰克林·罗斯福于1940年1月提名弗兰克·墨菲;12天后他被确认。
最近一次确认选举年是在1916年，当时查尔斯·埃文斯·休斯于6月辞职，伍德罗·威尔逊总统于7月14日提名约翰·克拉克。10天后，他被一致确认。在选举之前，从来没有比这更晚填补的空缺。
鉴于所有这些，2016年共和党对加兰的封锁确实是一个异常现象，如果有机会，麦康奈尔现在似乎渴望保持这种情况。
索尔·勒布/法新社通过盖蒂图像
2020年9月18日，华盛顿，唐纳德·特朗普总统在白宫布雷迪新闻简报室举行新闻发布会。
阿拉斯加州的摇摆参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基和缅因州的苏珊·科林斯最近都告诉媒体，他们认为不应该进行投票。金斯伯格去世前，穆尔科斯基周五告诉阿拉斯加公共电台，不应该进行投票，而科林斯本月早些时候告诉《纽约时报》的黄邦贤·马丁，10月份的大法官选举“太近了”。
特朗普的盟友已经支持迅速确认继任者的想法。得克萨斯州参议员特德·克鲁兹告诉福克斯新闻的肖恩·哈尼蒂，“我认为总统应该在下周提名法院的继任者。我认为参议院在选举日之前接手并确认继任者至关重要。”
巴雷特曾是圣母院的法学教授，此前曾为斯卡利亚大学(Scalia)担任神职人员，他于2017年10月被芝加哥第七巡回上诉法院确认。
以下是基于美国广播公司新闻报道的其他潜在候选人名单:
琼·拉森法官
拉森于2017年10月被确认为辛辛那提第六巡回法院法官，此前曾在密歇根最高法院任职。她是密歇根大学的法学教授，和巴雷特一样，她也为斯卡利亚大学当牧师。
阿穆尔·塔帕尔法官
塔帕尔于2017年5月被确认进入第六巡回法院，在特朗普提名他进入第六巡回法院之前，他曾是肯塔基州的联邦法官。
雷蒙德·凯莱奇法官
2008年，在乔治·w·布什总统的提名下，凯奇里奇被第六巡回上诉法院确认。他是安东尼·肯尼迪大法官的前书记员，也是福特汽车公司的前内部律师。
布里特·格兰特法官
格兰特于去年7月被确认为亚特兰大第11巡回赛选手。她曾是佐治亚州最高法院法官、佐治亚州副检察长和柯克兰&埃利斯公司的合伙人。
托马斯·哈迪曼法官
费城第三巡回法院的哈迪曼是他家第一个上大学的人，他通过开出租车帮助支付乔治城大学的法律学位。
他也是特朗普总统领导下的前两个空缺的头号竞争者。
尼奥米·拉奥法官
拉奥曾是克拉伦斯·托马斯大法官的书记员，是特朗普任命的人，他在美国哥伦比亚特区巡回上诉法院拥有布雷特·卡瓦诺(Brett M. Kavanaugh)以前占据的席位。她最近写了一份意见，命令驳回起诉迈克尔·弗林的案件。
Donald Trump to put forth nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in coming days: Sources
PresidentDonald Trumpis expected to put forth a nominee to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court in the coming days, multiple sources close to the president and with direct knowledge of the situation told ABC News.
The sources describe the list of potential nominees as very short and including at least one woman. U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett is seen as a leading contender, two sources tell ABC News.
Trump was asked about Ginsburg's death after leaving his Friday night campaign rally in Minnesota and said he was not aware of her passing. The 87-year-old justicediedFriday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, the court announced.
"Wow. I didn’t know that. I just -- you’re telling me now for the first time," he told reporters. "She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman. Whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I’m actually sad to hear that. I am sad to hear that."
Sources added that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already been in touch with members of the Republican caucus after news of Ginsburg’s passing was announced. The Senate needs just a simple majority to confirm a nominee, with Republicans currently holding 53 seats.
McConnell refused to bring then-President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Antonin Scalia in 2016 --Merrick Garland-- to the floor for a vote, but said he will not do the same this time.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., talks to reporters following the weekly Republican policy luncheon in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 15, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
"In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year," McConnell said in a statement following Ginsburg's death.
"By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise," he continued. "President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."
Trump told CNN in March 2016 that he believed the next president -- presumably him -- should pick the nominee, not Obama.
"I think the next president should make the pick, and I think they shouldn't go forward," he told "New Day" on March 16, 2016. "And I believe I'm pretty much in line with what the Republicans are saying. I think that the next president should make the pick. We don't have a very long distance to wait."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., went as far as to say Republicans had officially changed procedures in a speech from the floor in 2016 and to play back the video if a Supreme Court spot came up in 2020.
"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, and you can use my words against me and you’d be absolutely right," he said. "We are setting a precedent here today."
"Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died this evening surrounded by her family at her home due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer," Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.
Obama released a statement both extolling the virtues of Ginsburg, while simultaneously reminding Republicans of their decision in 2016.
"Four and a half years ago, when Republicans refused to hold a hearing or an up-or-down vote on Merrick Garland, they invented the principle that the Senate shouldn’t fill an open seat on the Supreme Court before a new president was sworn in," he said in a statement. "A basic principle of the law -- and of everyday fairness -- is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment."
"The rule of law, the legitimacy of our courts, the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic principle," he continued. "As votes are already being cast in this election, Republican Senators are now called to apply that standard.
Current Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was vice president at the time of Garland's nomination and told reporters in Delaware late Friday on his return from campaigning in Minnesota that Republicans should stick to what they said in 2016.
"In the coming days, we should focus on the loss of justice, and her enduring legacy. But there is no doubt -- 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. "This was the position the Republican Senate took in 2016 when there were almost 10 months to go before the election. That's the position the United States Senate must take today."
Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court, during a meeting with U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), May 10, 2016, on Capitol Hill.
Even if a nominee is put forth, the timeframe would seem tight for confirming a justice before Election Day. The average number of days from SCOTUS nomination to final vote in the Senate is 69.6 days -- about 2.3 months -- according to the Congressional Research Service.
There is ample precedent for nominations and confirmations to the Supreme Court in presidential election years. It's happened six times since 1900. The most recent nomination and confirmation in an election year was 1940, after Justice Pierce Butler died in office and Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Frank Murphy in January 1940; he was confirmed 12 days later.
The latest election year confirmation came in 1916 when Charles Evans Hughes resigned in June and President Woodrow Wilson nominated John Clarke on July 14. Ten days later he was unanimously confirmed. There has never been one filled later than that ahead of an election.
Given all of this, the 2016 GOP blockade of Garland was truly an anomaly, one which McConnell now seems keen to keep that way if given the chance.
President Donald Trump holds a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington.
Swing Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have each recently told media they do not believe a vote should be taken. Murkowski told Alaska Public Radio on Friday, prior to Ginsburg's death, that no votes should be taken, while Collins told The New York Times' Jonathon Martin earlier this month that it was "too close" to seat a justice in October.
Trump allies have already lined up behind the idea of quickly confirming a replacement. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "I believe the president should next week nominate a successor to the court. I think it's critical the Senate takes up and confirms the successor before Election Day."
Barrett, a former Notre Dame law professor who previously clerked for Scalia, was confirmed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in October 2017.
Judge Joan Larsen
Larsen was confirmed to the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati in October 2017 and previously served on the Michigan Supreme Court. She is a University of Michigan law professor, and, like Barrett, she also clerked for Scalia.
Judge Amul Thapar
Thapar was confirmed to the 6th Circuit in May 2017 and was previously federal judge in Kentucky before Trump nominated him to the 6th Circuit.
Judge Raymond Kethledge
Kethledge was confirmed to the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in 2008 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. He is a former clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and a former in-house lawyer at Ford Motor.
Judge Britt Grant
Grant was confirmed last July to the 11th Circuit at Atlanta. She previously was a Georgia Supreme Court justice, a Georgia solicitor general and a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.
Judge Thomas Hardiman
Hardiman, of the 3rd Circuit at Philadelphia, was the first person in his family to attend college, and he helped pay for his Georgetown University law degree by driving a taxi.
He was also a top contender for the first two vacancies under President Trump.
Judge Neomi Rao
Rao, a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, is a Trump appointee who holds the seat previously occupied by Brett M. Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She recently wrote the opinion ordering the dismissal of the case prosecuting Michael Flynn.
