Yahoo Finance Mitch McConnell refused to allow Ruth Bader Ginsburg to lie in state in Capitol, book claims
A new book on the life of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell apparently refused to allow Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to lie in state in the Capitol rotunda following her death last year.
USA Today journalist Susan Page detailed the incident in her forthcoming book, Madam Speaker.
According to Ms Page, Ms Pelosi said Mr Connell was an "enabler of some of the worst stuff" to occur in the the nation's legislature.
“Mitch McConnell is not a force for good in our country,” Ms Pelosi reportedly said.
She also claimed Mr McConnell was an "instigator" of some of his own "worst stuff."
Punchbowl News reported excerpts from the book in which Ms Pelosi claims she suggested Ms Bader Ginsburg be allowed to lie in state, but said Mr McConnell rejected the suggestion.
“McConnell rejected the idea on the grounds that there was no precedent for such treatment of a justice. When William Howard Taft had lain in state in 1930, he had been not only the chief justice but also president, McConnell noted,” Ms Page wrote.
“He wasn’t swayed by the argument that Ginsburg had achieved an iconic status in American culture, especially for women and girls.”
Instead, Ms Pelosi arranged for Ms Bader Ginsburg to lie in the Statuary Hall, which is on the House side of the Capitol and outside of the reach of the Senate.
In doing so, Ms Bader Ginsburg became the first woman to lie in state in the Capitol.
The animosity between Ms Pelosi and Mr McConnell was no secret.
She frequently referred to the senator as "Moscow Mitch," and often held him accountable for blocking Democratic legislation passed by the House.
Ms Pelosi also attacked Mr McConnell following the Capitol insurrection for not convening the Senate to allow for an emergency vote to impeach Donald Trump.
"It is so pathetic that Senator McConnell kept the Senate shut down so that the Senate could not receive the Article of Impeachment and has used that as his excuse for not voting to convict Donald Trump," she said.
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