White House Quietly Prepares Short List, Eyeing Ginsburg’s Absence From Bench

Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaks during the keynote address or the State Bar of New Mexico's Annual Meeting in Pojoaque, N.M., Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Craig Fritz)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has missed days on the bench recently amid a career of shockingly consistent attendance, even when she was enduring serious health scares. The Trump administration has noticed.

According to a Politico report, the White House counsel’s office and aides on the Senate Judiciary Committee are currently drafting a short list to prepare for the possible vacancy.

Should Trump get to put another justice on the bench, the most judges appointed to the highest court by one President since Ronald Reagan, the confirmation process would almost certainly be brutal. Democrats are still livid about Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment, and another far right judge would drastically alter the court’s trajectory for the foreseeable future.

Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove cancerous tumors from her lungs last month, and was reported to be recovering well afterwards. The court has been largely mum on the exact reason for her recent absences.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Fuck those fucking vultures in the fucking ass with a fucking truck axle!!!

  2. Avatar for jmacaz jmacaz says:

    In that case it’s never too early to start putting pressure on the 21 republican senators up for re-election in 2020 espically if you are a constituent.

  3. This scares me more than anything else, even Individual-1.

  4. That is a truly frightening thought.

  5. Don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

48 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for sedonaz Avatar for realzealman Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for smiley Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for eldonlazar Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for becca656 Avatar for crackerjack Avatar for horrido Avatar for tao Avatar for riverstreet Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for pine Avatar for darrtown Avatar for georgemilquetoast Avatar for doug834 Avatar for jmacaz Avatar for socalista Avatar for carolson Avatar for gryka Avatar for tomsrant

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: