Poll Question: Should Senate Consider a New SCOTUS Nominee?

As if 2020 hadn't thrown us enough curves, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday, only 45 days before the Presidential Election. That has both sides of the political aisle at odds--like they weren't at odds before--about whether or not a new SCOTUS nominee should be sent up to the Senate for confirmation.

This brings us to our Poll Question: Should the United States Senate Consider a New SCOTUS to Replace Justice Ginsburg This Close to the Election?

Please take our poll below.

Most Democrats say no to a new nominee because the Republicans blocked President Obama's nomination in 2016, arguing that it was too close to an election to consider a new SCOTUS nominee. They also point out Senate Leader Mitch McConnel's words when a similar situation arose in 2016 when Justice Antonin Scalia died during the last year of President Obama's term. McConnel refused to consider a new nominee, saying, “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.”

Republicans believe that it's a different scenario this time, since the American people elected a conservative president in 2016 on a platform to appoint conservative judges to the bench, and that the majority the party enjoyed in the Senate was actually expanded in the 2018 election, where they ran primarily on the same platform.

President Trump has said he plans to send a nominee to the Senate for approval to replace Justice Ginsberg. He indicated that five women were at the top of his list, but he has not named anyone specifically.