McConnell says Trump's nominee to replace Ginsburg will get a Senate vote

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday night after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that President Trump's nominee to replace Ginsburg will get a Senate vote.

Ginsburg died Friday evening from complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87.

McConnell's announcement will almost certainly touch off a partisan fight, considering Trump could lose reelection in roughly 45 days when voters go to the polls Nov. 3.

“The Senate and the nation mourn the sudden passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life,” McConnell said in a statement. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."

When Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, also an election year, McConnell refused to act on Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the opening. The seat remained vacant until after Trump's surprising presidential victory.

McConnell also said Friday: “In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise."