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President Donald Trump was expected to appoint Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Saturday, setting off a rush by Republicans to cement a conservative majority in court on the eve of a tense and potentially contested US election.
Trump made it clear Friday that he sees the “outstanding” 48-year-old law professor as a front-runner, but did not confirm multiple US media reports that Barrett is his final pick.
The announcement was to be made at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) at the White House rose ceremony. Shortly thereafter, Trump was leaving for a campaign rally in the crucial state of Pennsylvania.
That schedule alone illustrated the high-stakes politics behind the nomination, which is the third time Trump has had a chance to fill one of the highest court appointments for life.
If named and confirmed to fill the seat left by the late judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barrett would drive the court to the right for years, expanding the Tory wing’s 5-4 lead to a solid 6-3.
With the influence of the liberals waning, the court would likely see a repeat of some of the nation’s largest court disputes, beginning with abortion rights and the already battered Obamacare health plan.
More immediately, and even more explosively, a swift confirmation of Barrett in the Republican-led Senate would tip the court just as fears mount that the body will have to arbitrate a post-election dispute in which Trump or his Democratic opponent Joe Biden has refused to accept the result.
Trump has repeatedly said that he might have to challenge the results, claiming, without evidence, that Democrats want a “rigged” election. He said this week that the contest is likely to end in the Supreme Court.
Democrats, including Biden, are demanding that Republicans delay replacing Ginsburg, an advocate for women’s rights, until after the election, when it is known who will be in the White House from next January.
“Considering the fact that this Supreme Court nominee can serve on the court for 30 years, it’s nothing short of outrageous that they want to pass her in less than 30 days,” Senator Dick Durbin told CNN on Saturday, the whip. democrat.
The majority of Americans, between 57 and 38 percent, oppose the push for confirmation before the election, according to a new Washington Post / ABC poll.
But the leaders of the Republican majority in the Senate, which is tasked with confirming Supreme Court nominees, said they expect a vote before the election or, at the latest, during the next “lame duck” session before of the inauguration of the next president in January. .
“We certainly will this year,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Barrett was first appointed to the bank in 2017. A deeply conservative Catholic and mother of seven, she opposes abortion, a central issue for many Republicans.
Liberal groups are even more outraged given that the vacant seat was previously held by a feminist icon.
“We know that whoever introduces this president will be an offense to justice for Ginsburg’s legacy and his fight to ensure that women are treated fairly,” Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.
“We will fight with everything we have to stop any confirmation from the Supreme Court before the inauguration,” he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union also urged the Senate to postpone until after the election.
For Trump, nominating a conservative judge right now is a way to ignite his base heading into the November election.
But feelings are increasing on both sides.
On Friday, Biden traveled from his home in Delaware to Washington for a solemn ceremony at the United States Capitol honoring Ginsburg.
A day earlier, Trump and his wife Melania visited the Supreme Court to pay their respects to Ginsburg and found themselves being interrupted by a crowd of opponents.
bur-sms / acb
