United Sates President Donald Trump likely to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barret to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, which will cement a solid conservative majority in the apex court.
The president said this week that he will announce his pick to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and various US media said it would be the 48-year-old conservative judge. If Amy Coney 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.”
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 law professor, was only appointed to the bench for the first time in 2017. A deeply conservative Catholic, she is considered hostile to abortion rights — a key issue for many Republicans.
