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Donald Trump has said that he will nominate a woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court and will present the nomination next week as a dispute ensues following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“It will be a woman. I think it should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men,” the US president said at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
The liberal icon, Justice Ginsburg, had been a member of the Supreme Court since 1993, until her death on Friday from complications from pancreatic cancer.
Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday
His death has sparked a battle over how a successor will be named, with the perceived political leanings of Supreme Court justices, especially on controversial issues like the right to abortion, making him a significant political topic of debate.
Democrats have argued that a successor should not be chosen until after the November election.
Judge Ginsburg herself, an advocate for women’s rights, said before her death that it was her “most fervent wish” not to be replaced until a new president was in power, according to the nonprofit media organization NPR.
But Trump has insisted that the Republican Party is obligated to replace Judge Ginsburg “without delay.”
The procedure for appointing a Supreme Court justice allows the president to nominate a candidate and then requires the Senate to confirm it.
This would give Trump a chance to expand the court’s conservative majority to 6-3.
If successful, the Supreme Court could be dominated by conservative justices for decades to come and potentially overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that protects a woman’s right to access an abortion in the US. .
Two conservative women have been named as possible candidates: Amy Coney Barrett of the Chicago-based 7th Circuit and Barbara Lagoa of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit.
Ms. Barrett is a devout Roman Catholic who, according to abortion rights groups, would likely vote to overturn the historic decision that legalized abortion across the country.
Ms. Lagoa was the first Latina on the Florida Supreme Court and would become the youngest Supreme Court judge if appointed at age 52.
Donald Trump Wants Judge Ginsburg’s Successor Appointed As Soon As Possible
Trump has already appointed two justices: Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
In their arguments for why this nomination should be postponed, Democrats pointed to the Republican Senate’s refusal in 2016 to act on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
Conservative Antonin Scalia had died 10 months before that year’s election, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at the time that the Senate should not act on a candidate during an election year.
This time, he has reversed his stance and vowed to quickly call a vote to confirm Trump’s nominee.
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In a statement posted online, Obama said: “A basic principle of the law, and of everyday justice, is that we apply the rules consistently and not on the basis of what is convenient or advantageous at the time.”
Presidential hopeful Joe Biden also expressed his frustrations, saying, “Just so there is no doubt, let me be clear: voters must choose a president, and that president must choose a successor to Justice Ginsburg.”
