The Lincoln Project joined the country in offering condolences for the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on Twitter Friday.
“The Lincoln Project joins all of America in mourning the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” the group wrote.
But on Saturday, in a scathing statement, the anti-Trump political action committee, rejected President Trump’s plans to announce a Supreme Court nominee just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
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“Under no circumstances should a nomination go forward in the United States Senate,” said the group on Twitter.
The Lincoln Project, led in part by George Conway, husband to Kellyanne Conway who is a presidential advisor, was developed in 2019 with the sole purpose of defeating “Trump and Trumpism,” according to its website.
The site notes policy-based differences with the Democratic Party, but also argues that “Electing Democrats who support the Constitution over Republicans who do not is a worthy effort.”
Ginsburg’s death is expected to initiate a fiery partisan debate in Washington as GOP senators and the White House plan to confirm a Supreme Court justice as quickly as possible.
“In a presidency marked by corruption, malfeasance, incompetence and a profound disrespect for the American system of government and our Constitution, any nominee put forward by Donald Trump…would forever bear the stain of a majoritarian, hyper-partisan choice made by a president and Republican Senate majority desperate to cling to power,” the Lincoln Project said in a statement.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called on the GOP to take the same measure as in 2016, when it refused to review former President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, citing concerns over electing a justice during an election year.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” Schumer tweeted, echoing the phrasing used by McConnell in February 2016, following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who once said that he would not support Trump if he pushed to have a justice appointed to the high court during an election year, changed his mind Saturday.
Graham retweeted a message by the president that said Republicans have an “obligation” to fill the seat “without delay.”
“I fully understand where President Trump is coming from,” Graham wrote.
Graham backed McConnell in 2016 and told Democrats that they could “use my words against me” should he ever try to have a Supreme Court justice instated during an election year.
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The senator held this belief up to two years ago. During a 2018 event he said, “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait till the next election.”
“This November, these senators and those who promote Donald Trump’s un-American, authoritarian actions will be held responsible,” the Lincoln Project said. “Now is the time for all of us that believe in Democracy to stand together and stand up to their continuing infidelity to our country and our institutions.”
The Lincoln Project could not be immediately reached by Fox News.
Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.
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