Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the liberal justice who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999, passed away Friday, the court announced in a statement.
Ginsburg, a liberal lion of the court, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, was 87 years old.
Before her death, Ginsburg dictated a to her granddaughter Clara Spera. “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new President is installed,” she wrote.
In February, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if a Supreme Court seat opened up this year, “we would fill it.”
In 2016, McConnell refused to bring up President Obama’s nominee for the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, with the justification that “this nomination ought to be made by the president we're in the process of electing this year."
In a speech in 2018 he recounted that "One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, 'Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.'"
On Sept. 9, President Trump announced a number of new names to his long list of possible Supreme Court nominees, including Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
Throughout her career, Ginsburg was a leading advocate for gender equality and civil rights.
“Women’s rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy,” Ginsburg said.
This is a developing story.