Amy Coney
Barrett
Amy Coney
Barrett, 48, would cement a conservative orientation on the high court for
years to come.
SUPREME
COURT
Trump poised to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to
fill Ginsburg's seat
The president will officially announce his choice
Saturday, just over five weeks from Election Day.
By MARIANNE
LEVINE, ANITA KUMAR, GABBY ORR and BURGESS EVERETT
09/25/2020
06:12 PM EDT
Updated:
09/25/2020 07:10 PM EDT
President
Donald Trump plans to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on
Saturday, according to five people familiar with the matter, setting off a
contentious Senate fight just over five weeks before the November presidential
election.
Barrett,
who has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since late
2017, was always considered the frontrunner to replace the late Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg because of her strong conservative credentials and the fact that
she had already been vetted and interviewed two years ago.
Barrett,
48, who is expected to appear with Trump for an announcement at the White House
on Saturday at 5 p.m., would cement a conservative orientation on the high
court for years to come. If confirmed, she would join Trump’s two other
appointments, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to form a 6-3 conservative
majority.
As he
returned to Washington on Friday night, Trump confirmed to reporters he had
made decision. "In my own mind, yes," he said. But when asked about
Barrett, he said: “I haven’t said it was her but she is outstanding."
Trump also
considered former Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Lagoa, a Cuban American
judge now on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, after being lobbied by
Florida Republicans, who said her nomination could support the president's
efforts to win Florida this fall. Trump had considered meeting Lagoa in Florida
this week but he said Friday he had not.
Conservative
groups were quick to praise Barrett, long seen as their first choice for the
seat. "Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an excellent selection who has shown a
rock-solid commitment to originalism and the Constitution," Club for
Growth President David McIntosh said.
The White
House has already started to reach out to senators to set up meetings with the
nominee. The Senate Judiciary Committee expects to hold confirmation hearings
the week of Oct. 12. Both Trump and some Republican senators have said the
Supreme Court needs to have all nine justices ahead of the election, in case
the court needs to step in to decide the result.
"Now,
Donald Trump and the Senate Republicans want to steal another seat on the
Supreme Court so that Amy Coney Barrett can help repeal Roe and shred the
Affordable Care Act — but not before she votes with a new, ultra-conservative
majority to validate an election he intends to steal," NOW President
Christian F. Nunes said Barrett said.
The Senate
confirmed Barrett to her current judgeship in a 55-43 vote in 2017, and she is
expected to receive broad support from Senate Republicans. She’s not likely to
receive any support from Senate Democrats, who argue that the upper chamber has
never confirmed a Supreme Court justice so close to the election.
Democrats
are still seething over Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision in
2016 to block President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland from getting a
hearing in the Senate, arguing at the time that the American people should
decide given that it was an election year. But McConnell and Senate Republicans
say that Trump’s nominee is different because unlike in 2016, the White House
and the Senate are now controlled by the same party.
There is
little Senate Democrats can do to stop the nomination from going forward.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week invoked the two-hour
rule to prevent committees from meeting more than two hours after the Senate is
in session, in a sign of protest.
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