Mitch McConnell, the majority leader in the US Senate, vowed on Friday to fast forward with Donald Trump’s candidate to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg In the Supreme Court, paving the way for an extraordinary political battle just six weeks before Election Day.

After a brief period 87-year-old judge dies The Republican issued a statement clearing any doubt about his intention to act, although the timeline for doing so remained remarkably vague.

Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, especially his distinguished appointments to the federal judiciary. “Once again, we will deliver on our promise,” McConnell said in a statement. “President Trump’s candidate will vote on the Senate floor in the United States.”

One’s death The most prominent and the most famous A Supreme Court judge in American history has suddenly turned an already volatile election season into an all-out battle for control of every branch of government. Trump, who is struggling to get re-elected, indicated his desire for a speedy nomination for a third judge.

The decision is likely to be met with ire from Democrats, who remain outraged by McConnell’s refusal to consider Barack Obama’s nomination for Judge Merrick Garland to replace Conservative Judge Antonin Scalia, who died months before the 2016 election. Analysts believe the decision is controversial – and Trump’s commitment to nominating judges ‘Pro-Life’ on court – he was decisive in his surprise presidential victory in 2016.

Confirming the appointment of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to Trump’s Supreme Court resulted in a solid conservative majority on the court. If Trump succeeds in installing a third candidate, the conservative bloc will dominate the nation’s highest court, likely for decades to come.

Earlier this month, Trump revealed a list of 20 possible candidates for the court. Among the group of judicial conservatives were three Republican senators: Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Josh Holly of Missouri.

While the courts have long spurred conservative voters, who view the judiciary as a bulwark against a changing electoral landscape, liberals have become increasingly driven by judicial appointments during the Trump era. The prospect of a conservative majority alarmed liberal voters, who feared a county court would overturn the Roe v. Wade case, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that established the right to abortion.

The gigantic clash over Trump’s choice to replace Ginsburg – and how the Senate proceeds to nominate – may determine the outcome of the November election.

“In the coming days, we must focus on losing her justice and her lasting legacy,” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Friday night, speaking from an airport in Delaware after returning from a trip that took him to Minnesota. “But there is no doubt, let me be clear, that the electorate should choose the president and that the president must choose the justice that the Senate is considering. This was the Republican Senate position that was taken in 2016, when there were nearly 10 months before The election [and] This is the position the Senate must take today. “

Trump, speaking at a rally in Montana when news of Ginsburg’s death broke out, spoke of Cruz’s appointment and announced his appointments to court, even though he seemed oblivious to the partisan battle brewing off-stage.

Speaking after the gathering, Trump told reporters: “She lived a wonderful life. What else can you say? She was a wonderful woman, whether she agreed or not, she was a wonderful woman who lived a wonderful life. I’m actually sad to hear that.”

White House press secretary Kylie McNani said that Trump was not aware of her death when he took the stage on Friday, and said the White House would be flying flags in her honor.

It was unclear whether McConnell intended to push the vote before the November election or wait until the lame duck session, the post-election period but before the new president is sworn in. Control of the Senate hangs on the scale, and some of its members have already expressed concern about the possibility of storming a candidate weeks before the election, especially given McConnell’s position four years ago.

Senator Susan Collins is one of the Republicans’ weakest incumbents Tell The New York Times reported earlier this month that it would not nominate a judge on the Supreme Court in October, arguing that it was “very close” to the election. She said that unless Trump is re-elected, she will oppose the confirmation of the president’s candidate in a lame session.

Shortly before Ginsburg’s death was announced, Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, told a state radio station: She did not vote to confirm New justice before the elections. Explaining her rationale, she said it was the same reasoning that McConnell applied to Obama’s last nominee for the Supreme Court.

“That was very close to the election,” she said, describing McConnell’s argument.

However, Kelly Loeffler, a Republic of Georgia that had attempted to fend off a strong challenge from the right, urged the president to appoint a new justice.

The future of our country is at stake & Embed a Tweet Every right to choose a new justice before the elections. ” Wrote On Twitter. “I look forward to supporting a strict construction engineer who safeguards the right to life and protects our conservative values.”

McConnell argued that the current situation is different from that in 2016. Then the Republicans took control of the Senate, the room that certifies Supreme Court candidates, while the Democrats occupy the White House. This time, he asserts, the same party controls both branches, and thus the affirmation must continue.

Democrats rejected this argument, saying it threatens the court’s legitimacy. Even some of the president’s closest allies say the affirmation should not take place in the final months of the election cycle.

“If an opening happens in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process begins, we will wait for the next election,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, who is facing an unexpected competitive re-election contest in South Carolina, during an interview in 2018.

“You are registered,” the interlocutor He said To Graham, in a video widely shared online on Friday night.

He replied, “Hold the tape.”