Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies 46 Days Before Election, McConnell Immediately Vows to Confirm Replacement Despite 2016 Standard

On September 18, 2020, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at age 87 from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, creating a Supreme Court vacancy just 46 days before the November 3 presidential election and while early voting was already underway in some states. In her final days, Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera expressing her “most fervent wish” that she “will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Within hours of her death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would vote on Trump’s nominee to replace her—a complete reversal from McConnell’s 2016 position that voters should decide Supreme Court appointments in an election year. The extraordinary hypocrisy revealed that McConnell’s “principle” about election-year appointments applied only when it served Republican power.

Ginsburg’s Legacy and Final Wish

Ruth Bader Ginsburg fundamentally transformed American law and society through her pioneering work on gender equality. As the principal architect of gender equality litigation in the 1970s, Ginsburg strategically argued cases that established constitutional protections against sex discrimination. Appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993, she became a liberal icon and cultural phenomenon known as “Notorious RBG,” while remaining focused on her judicial work and writing powerful progressive dissents. Chief Justice John Roberts noted the Court “lost a justice of historic stature” and “a tireless and resolute champion of justice.” As her strength waned in her final days, Ginsburg dictated to her granddaughter Clara Spera: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg, who published the original report about Ginsburg’s last wish, confirmed that Ginsburg herself had made the statement, with other witnesses present including her doctor.

McConnell’s Immediate Reversal: 46 Days vs. 293 Days

Within hours of Ginsburg’s death being announced, McConnell issued a statement declaring that the Senate would vote on Trump’s nominee to fill the vacancy. The hypocrisy was breathtaking: in 2016, McConnell had refused to consider Merrick Garland for 293 days—arguing that “the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice” and that the vacancy “should not be filled until we have a new president.” That obstruction occurred despite the fact that the 2016 election was still nearly 10 months away. Now, in 2020, McConnell was determined to rush through a confirmation just 46 days before an election, with early voting already underway in multiple states. The contrast revealed with perfect clarity that McConnell’s 2016 “principle” was never a principle at all—it was a partisan power play that would be abandoned the moment it no longer served Republican interests.

Early Voting Already Underway

Ginsburg’s death on September 18, 2020 occurred when the presidential election was not merely approaching but already in progress. Early voting had begun in some states, meaning millions of Americans would cast ballots before McConnell’s promised confirmation vote. The urgency was also driven by the Supreme Court’s scheduled hearing the week after Election Day on another challenge to the Affordable Care Act—Republicans wanted to ensure a conservative majority would be in place to potentially strike down the ACA. McConnell’s determination to fill the seat before the election showed that “letting voters decide” applied only when Republicans feared losing power, not when they held it.

Significance

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on September 18, 2020—just 46 days before a presidential election—and Mitch McConnell’s immediate vow to confirm her replacement exposed the complete hypocrisy underlying the Merrick Garland blockade four years earlier. McConnell’s 2016 argument that voters should decide Supreme Court appointments in an election year was never a constitutional principle—it was a partisan excuse to steal a seat when Democrats held the presidency. When the situation reversed and Republicans controlled both the White House and Senate, McConnell abandoned that “principle” without hesitation, even ignoring Ginsburg’s dying wish. The contrast between McConnell’s actions in 2016 (blocking Garland 293 days before an election) and 2020 (rushing a replacement 46 days before an election, with voting already underway) crystallized how thoroughly constitutional norms and democratic legitimacy had been subordinated to raw partisan power. Ginsburg’s death, her final wish, and McConnell’s immediate dismissal of that wish set in motion events that would create a 6-3 conservative supermajority built on stolen seats and abandoned principles—a majority that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the very outcome Ginsburg had fought to prevent.