[ad_1]
She is the candidate of US President Donald Trump, a woman who was able to cement the balance of power in the US Supreme Court for years: with Amy Coney Barrett, the Conservatives would have six of the nine seats on the Supreme Court. Needless to say, his nomination is particularly explosive, especially since the November 3 US election.
But first Barrett has to face many critical questions on the Senate Judiciary Committee, over several days. However: After the start of Monday, Barrett still owed a lot of responses on Tuesday. He avoided particularly controversial topics.
These were central issues such as the right to abortion or same-sex marriages. Barrett declined Tuesday to reveal his position on previous court decisions on these matters. If she expressed an opinion on a precedent, this could give the parties an indication of what decision she would be willing to make in a specific case, Barrett argued in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Specifically, he declined to comment on two preceding Supreme Court decisions that some conservatives in the United States want to overturn. It is the trial of Roe v. Wade of 1973, which stated that women’s right to abortion was covered by the United States Constitution, and Obergefell v. Hodges, with whom he also settled for same-sex marriages in 2015. He also stressed that he found discrimination “abhorrent”. “I would never discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.”
Barrett also did not respond when Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked if a US president could postpone an election from his point of view. If you were ever faced with such a question, you would first have to listen to the parties’ arguments and consult with your colleagues, Barrett said.
Successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
According to Trump’s will, Barrett will be the successor to the late Liberal Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The decision would be of enormous importance. The court often has the last word in legal disputes on politically controversial issues such as immigration, abortion rights or gun ownership.
Judges are nominated by the President and appointed for life by the Senate. Republicans hold 53 of the 100 Senate seats. This means that Democrats cannot prevent Barrett’s appointment on their own.
Trump and the Republicans in the Senate want Barrett on the Supreme Court before the presidential election. The final vote is scheduled for October 22. The president made no secret that he was also interested in possible legal disputes over the counting of votes in the elections. There were no agreements with the White House on possible processes related to the election, Barrett said.
The president’s approach has caused outrage among Democrats for weeks: They have unsuccessfully demanded that the staff make up their minds after the election. In 2016, Republicans in the Senate for months blocked the appointment of a vacant Supreme Court seat by Trump’s predecessor Obama, arguing that voters should have an indirect voice through presidential elections.
