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WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) – US President Donald Trump is moving toward the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, according to people familiar with the matter, despite the fact that the President said on Monday (September 21) that he is considering as many as five candidates.
Barrett met with Trump and separately with White House attorney Pat Cipollone on Monday, people familiar with the discussions said.
She is a favorite of anti-abortion rights advocates, who are heavily pushing the White House and Trump personally to nominate her. She is preferred by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to people close to him.
And his supporters have pointed out to the White House that as a Midwestern Catholic, Barrett can help the president get votes for his re-election in vital states of the Rust Belt and Great Lakes, where he is currently behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Trump told an audience in Dayton, Ohio, on Monday that he would choose a woman. Earlier, she told reporters at the White House that she is looking for “five women” to fill the vacancy, but has “one or two” of them in mind as finalists. The president said Barrett is among those being considered.
When asked if he would meet with his five candidates in person, Trump said: “I don’t know, I doubt it. We will meet with some, probably.”
A White House spokesman declined to comment on the president’s Supreme Court candidate meetings.
Inside the White House, the only candidate for the Ginsburg job currently attracting serious interest outside of Barrett is Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Lagoa.
She is a Cuban American from Florida, as Trump has repeatedly pointed out, which could help him in that state where he must win.
But Lagoa is at this point a distant second after Barrett, a Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judge.
The president has expressed some skepticism about her conservative credentials because Lagoa won the votes of 27 Democrats when she was confirmed in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, people familiar with the matter said.
Still, the process has moved quickly and the president could change his mind before an announcement is made.
When asked if he will meet with Lagoa later this week when he travels to Florida, Trump said he “can.”
Trump is poised to unleash a furious political battle for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Ginsburg’s death on Friday, just six weeks before he is up for re-election.
The prospect of him replacing the liberal icon with a conservative jurist has outraged Democrats, who responded by pouring more than $ 120 million (S $ 163 million) into the party’s fundraising platform ActBlue over the weekend.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told his colleagues that “nothing is off the table” if Republicans replace Ginsburg and Democrats take over the White House and Senate in November.
Democrats are increasingly talking about adding judges to the court as a possible answer.
Trump has told his allies that he believes Barrett, 48, is a smart, hard-nosed conservative jurist who would also look good during televised confirmation hearings, according to one of the people.
Officials are also encouraged that Barrett survived a tough confirmation fight in 2017.
The Senate confirmed it with a 55-43 vote that largely aligned with the parties.
Trump also believes that Barrett will not waver on issues important to conservatives, including abortion, gun rights and health care, when they appear in court.
Trump has been disappointed with some of the decisions of his first court appointment, Judge Neil Gorsuch, one person said.
Gorsuch angered religious conservatives when he wrote the majority opinion in a case earlier this year in which the superior court held that LGBTQ people are protected from employment discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Barrett was one of Trump’s finalists in 2018 when he replaced Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Instead, the president nominated Brett Kavanaugh, but White House staff told Barrett’s allies at the time that he was being booked for the next round of potential nominees.
Sixth Circuit Judge Joan Larsen, Fourth Circuit Judge Allison Jones Rushing and Deputy White House Attorney Kate Todd round out Trump’s short list, though people say those three haven’t received serious consideration.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has mentioned Rushing, who is from his home state of North Carolina, while White House attorney Pat Cipollone has pushed for Todd to be considered.
But Barrett has broad support within the building.
Trump has hinted that he is considering a broader field of suspense before announcing a nominee, but he is focusing on Barrett, one of the people said.
The president told reporters at the White House that he would make an announcement before the weekend.
“We will make a decision, probably on Saturday, but on Friday or Saturday,” he said.
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