Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87. After a lengthy battle with metastatic pancreatic cancer the barrier breaking feminist icon who became the second woman ever to be appointed to the nation’s highest court passed away on Friday sparking shock across the U.S. Her granddaughter Clara Spera related that days before her death Ginsburg dictated the following statement to her: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” There were vigils mourning her passing held over the weekend all over the country and the Women’s March put out a call for gatherings to be held in her honor at local courthouses. Ginsburg’s death sparks a major political fight just weeks ahead of the already-anxiety-inducing presidential election on November 3rd. 

Within hours of her passing Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell released a statement saying, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” which in turn led to a trending of the hashtag #HypocriteMitch. McConnell prevented a vote on President Obama’s pick to replace the late Antonin Scalia saying an outgoing president should not be allowed to pick a justice. On Friday Trump remarked about the late Justice, “an amazing woman who led an amazing life,” but by Monday Trump was already promoting a conspiracy theory that Ginsburg did not say what she is attributed to having said on her deathbed. “[M]aybe she did, and maybe she didn’t,” he told Fox and Friends. On Monday Trump announced that he would choose a nominee to replace Ginsburg by Friday or Saturday of this week. 

In order to confirm his nominee to the court Trump needs a simple majority in the Senate and currently Republicans control the chamber 53 to 47. That means in order for Trump to lose a confirmation vote for his nominee, 3 Republican Senators are needed to join Democrats in voting no, but in practicality 4 are needed in order to override what would likely be Vice President Mike Pence’s vote as a tie-breaker. So far only Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have said they oppose a vote this year while Senator Chuck Grassley said before Ginsburg’s death that he would oppose a vote. The New York Times counted 29 other Republican Senators whose views are not yet clear. Early polls find that a slim majority of Americans do not want Trump to replace Ginsburg which would lead to a 6-3 conservative majority on the court for years. Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden urged Republican lawmakers to “follow your conscience” and not confirm a replacement this year.