September 19, 2020

Trump Wants “No Delay” in Picking a New Justice

“We have this obligation,” he tweeted Saturday morning.

President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking during a campaign rally at Bemidji Regional Airport, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Bemidji, Minn.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

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Donald Trump made it clear that he would not waste any time replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, announcing his strategy, per usual, by tweet Saturday morning:

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has already stated he won’t stick to his own rule and refuse to let a Supreme Court justice be chosen in the run-up to an election, but Trump’s confirmation officially sets the stage for a highly combative next several weeks in Washington.

Trump, who was giving a rambling speech when the news broke of Ginsburg’s death on Friday night, initially appeared a bit stunned and offered condolences to her family when he was informed, but in the runup to the 2016 election, he used Twitter to air his feelings about Ginsburg, after she shared her feelings about him.

By Saturday morning, he was already appearing to gloat over his chance to replace Ginsburg. Even before his tweet announcing he wanted to move quickly, he sent a sarcastic note mocking former Democratic majority leader Harry Reid, who removed the 60-vote requirement for judicial appointments which will make it easier for Republicans to confirm a replacement for Ginsburg.

 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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