[ad_1]
Democrats, on the other hand, insist that the vacant seat on the influential US Supreme Court will only be filled by this year’s winner in the November 3 presidential election.
Following the death of left-wing liberal constitutional judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US President Donald Trump wants to present his candidate to his successor at the end of the week. She will make her pick from a list of five women “probably Saturday, maybe Friday,” Trump said Monday (local time) in Washington. Judges Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa are the favorites for the position.
Bader Ginsburg died of cancer on Friday at the age of 87. The highly respected attorney was an important representative of the left-wing liberal camp in the nine-member judiciary of the powerful Supreme Court.
After Bader Ginsburg’s death, Trump has the right to nominate a new constitutional judge. It would be the Republican’s third Supreme Court seat, and it could cement the conservative majority on the US Supreme Court in the long run. The nomination would have to be confirmed by the Senate, where Trump’s Republicans have a majority of 53 out of 100 senators.
The two best candidates
Amy coney barrett (48) taught at Notre Dame Law School in Indiana before being nominated by Trump in 2017 for a position on the Federal Court of Appeals in Chicago. The Senate confirmed the appointment of the Catholic Conservative with 55 to 43 votes. Opponents of a stricter abortion law fear that Barrett, as a constitutional judge for the repeal of Roe v. Wade would vote, a 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing a national right to abortion. Barrett has seven children.
Barbara Lago (52) previously served on the Florida Supreme Court. Trump nominated her for a federal appeals court in Atlanta in 2019. Her appointment was confirmed by the Senate with 80-15 votes, and therefore more bipartisan. This makes her a less controversial candidate. Lagoa is of Cuban descent and was the first Hispanic constitutional judge in Florida.
Dispute over timing of replacement
The replacement sparked a bitter dispute in Washington six weeks before the presidential election. Opposition Democrats ask Trump not to make a decision before the election. Two Republican senators have also expressed concern about the addition of a new constitutional judge shortly before the November 3 elections.
Trump’s challenger, Joe Biden, argued that holding the post shortly before the election would amount to an “abuse of power.” Trump, on the other hand, said in an interview with Fox Monday that he would announce his nomination after the late Bader Ginsburg’s funeral services ended. “The final vote should take place before the elections. We have a lot of time for it.”
As a justification, the president said that the court with eight judges should be prevented from splitting into two equal-sized camps after the presidential election.
“I don’t know if she said that”
Trump also expressed doubts about reports that, shortly before his death, Bader Ginsburg confided to his granddaughter that his last wish was that his judge seat would only be filled by a new president. “I don’t know if she said that,” he said in the Fox interview. It may also be that this statement was “made” by the leaders of the Democratic Party. “That came out of nowhere.” At a press conference, the president added that such a statement was “too convenient” for Democrats.
The coffin of the late Constitutional Judge Bader Ginsburg will be placed in the next few days, first in the Supreme Court and then in the Capitol. Next week, the judge will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, outside of Washington.
Democrats: “Respect Ginsburg’s Last Wish”
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged House Republican Majority Leader to
Mitch McConnell on Monday to respect Ginsburg’s dying wish. Schumer noted that McConnell had blocked a candidate from President Barack Obama to succeed the late Conservative Constitutional Judge Antonin Scalia in the 2016 election year.
McConnell had said more than eight months before the election: “The American people should have a vote in selecting their next Supreme Court Justice, so this position should not be filled until we have a new president.” Schumer said Monday, referring to McConnell’s statement, “A senator’s word must be worth something.”
McConnell said Monday that Ginsburg was “not just an attorney but a leader.” “The legal world mourns a giantess.” Schumer paid tribute to the “brilliant mind” of the judge, who passed away Friday at the age of 87.
(WHAT / dpa)
