Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, visited the Supreme Court Saturday following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“Justice Ginsburg was a titan—a relentless defender of justice and a legal mind for the ages,” she tweeted with a picture of her and her husband, Doug Emhoff, standing in front of the court. “The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher. Millions of Americans are counting on us to win and protect the Supreme Court—for their health, for their families, and for their rights.”
The visit came after Ginsburg died Friday due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer at the age of 87. Just the second woman to be nominated to the high court, she served on the Supreme Court for over 27 years.
Ginsburg’s death is sparking a fierce partisan battle over her replacement, with Democrats saying a potential nominee should not be confirmed before the 2021 inauguration after the GOP blocked then-President Obama’s nominee to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat in 2016, the last presidential election year.
“Let me be clear, that the voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the Senate to consider,” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Friday.
Both President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have committed to pushing forward a nominee “without delay.”
Beyond her role as the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee, Harris also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, meaning she’ll play a high-profile role in the confirmation process of Trump’s nominee.