Former WA Attorney General assesses fallout of RBG’s vacant Supreme Court seat
Sep 21, 2020, 10:07 AM | Updated: 11:25 am
Kelli Midgley, an English teacher from Baltimore, joins people gathered at the Supreme Court to honor the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg over the weekend, many eyes in Washington, D.C., have turned toward the future of the Supreme Court, and what might happen with her seat now vacant.
Former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna stopped by Seattle’s Morning News on KIRO Radio to weigh in.
While Democrats have been vocal about wanting to wait until after November’s presidential election to fill Ginsburg’s seat, President Trump and Senate Republicans have stated a desire to push forward. As of Monday, two frontrunners appear to be under consideration.
“Judge Amy Coney [Barrett] of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is getting a lot of attention, and so is this judge from Miami, Judge [Barbara] Lagoa from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals,” McKenna said, noting that Lagoa was originally appointed to the 11th Circuit by Trump.
Both judges come with marked advantages for Republicans, as well as potential long-term consequences. For Coney Barrett, the hope from many Republicans is that she would help establish a solid 6-3 conservative majority needed to overturn Roe v. Wade, the long-standing precedent that effectively legalized abortion without excessive government restrictions in 1973.
For Lagoa, there are concerns that she may not side with the conservative majority on that particular case.
“They’re not 100% sure that she is a so-called reliable conservative,” McKenna said. “They’re more certain of that, I think, with Judge Coney.”
With Lagoa, who previously served as the first Hispanic woman on Florida’s Supreme Court, the advantage comes with her status as a selection who could be a boon to Trump’s standing among Cuban-American voters in Florida, where the 11th Circuit Court resides.
Media celebrates Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life, legacy
“She’s very popular in Florida among conservatives and among Cuban-Americans,” McKenna described. “She is a Cuban-American herself — it would be a very helpful move for President Trump, politically, in the state of Florida if he were to appoint her.”
That leaves President Trump with a difficult choice between a justice who could help score a long sought-after political victory for conservatives, or another who could potentially help win Florida in November’s election.
“It will be very interesting to see what President Trump decides to do because he wants to pick someone who conservatives almost uniformly are enthusiastic about,” McKenna said. “But at the same time, he’s, I’m sure, tempted by the idea of helping himself in the very important state of Florida with all those electoral votes.”
That being so, Trump’s choice could see long-term consequences if Republicans lose both the White House and Senate in November, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer signaling that Democrats would be motivated to make drastic changes in the years ahead if a new Supreme Court selection is pushed through prior to Election Day.
“(Conservatives are) going to be somewhat concerned about the impact on the court itself,” McKenna warned. “They’re going to worry that it will be such an incendiary move this many years, five decades after Roe v. Wade was decided, that it could result in a move in Congress to pack the court and expand the number of justices.”
Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
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