From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Michelle Cordero, and this is Heritage Explains.

Just when we thought this year couldn't get any more intense, it did. After serving 27 years on the United States Supreme Court,

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away last Friday,

leaving an important vacancy with just a little over a month

until the presidential election.

It didn't take long for the battle over the nomination to begin.

The Senate battle over Justice Ginsburg's vacant seat is shaping up to be absolutely brutal. Republican

leaders say they're ready to move forward with the confirmation by Election Day.

Democrats say voters should decide who chooses the new justice.

The GOP drumbeat to act fast grew louder today.

I hope it happens before the election.

There's really no reason to wait.

Election Day is now 42 days away, exactly the amount of time it took

for Ginsburg herself to get confirmed. We have an obligation under the Constitution.

Senate leader Mitch McConnell didn't commit to a timeline today. He led the charge to block

President Obama's nominee eight months before an election.

CBS News reporter Lisa Cordes is referring to Obama's 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland that was created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Republicans did not hold a vote for Garland, waiting for the next incoming president to make a

nomination.

So what is the difference between then and now?

What's the rule?

What does history tell us about the process of filling a vacancy?

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