WASHINGTON, Sept 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump intends to
name Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, US media reported Friday,
who if confirmed would cement a solid conservative majority on the high
court.
The president said this week he will announce his pick to replace the late
Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday, and various media outlets said it would be
the 48-year-old conservative judge.
Citing sources close to the process, various media outlets, including The
New York Times and CNN, said Trump would nominate Barrett.
If she is confirmed, the court would shift to a 6-3 conservative majority.
Asked by journalists if Barrett will indeed be nominated, Trump responded:
“I haven’t said that.”
But he added that he had already made a decision “in my own mind” and that
Barrett is “outstanding.”
The media reports noted the mercurial Trump could still change his mind
before the official announcement, expected at 5 pm (2100 GMT) Saturday.
Democratic opponents, led by presidential candidate Joe Biden, have
demanded that Republicans back off on replacing liberal icon Ginsburg — who
died last week — until after the November 3 election, after it’s determined
whether Trump will get a second term.
Leaders of the Republican majority in the Senate, which is tasked with
confirming Supreme Court nominees, said they have enough support to hold a
vote on the nomination either before the election or at worst during the
“lame duck” session between the election and the inauguration of the next
president in January.
“We will certainly do that this year,” Republican Senate leader Mitch
McConnell said.
Barrett, a practicing Catholic and law professor, was only appointed to
the bench for the first time in 2017. Deeply conservative, she is considered
hostile to abortion rights — a key issue for many Republicans.
In 2018, the mother of seven was on the shortlist presented by Trump for a
seat vacated by the retirement of justice Anthony Kennedy, a position
ultimately filled by Brett Kavanaugh after a ferocious confirmation battle.
– A full bench –
Earlier Friday, Ginsburg became the first woman and first Jewish person to
lie in state at the US Capitol, where the justice’s relatives, US lawmakers
and dignitaries including Biden paid their respects.
Ginsburg’s last wish, reportedly relayed to her granddaughter, was for her
seat to be decided by whoever wins the next election.
Trump cast doubt upon the veracity of that in an interview Monday,
suggesting it could have been a ploy made up Democratic leaders.
Republican leaders have said that if the fate of a disputed election rests
with the Supreme Court, they will need a full bench of judges to prevent a
deadlock.
The Democrats have vowed to do everything in their power to prevent the
confirmation of a new justice before the election, but with a 53-47
Republican majority in the Senate, there is little they can do to stop it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week the Democrats “have arrows in
our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” prompting speculation
that if the Democrats win big in Congress but lose the White House, they
could try to impeach the president a second time or expand the number of
judges on the Supreme Court to 15 from its current nine.