President Trump has, as expected, nominated Amy Coney Barrett as the new judge to the US Supreme Court. The 48-year-old conservative Barrett, if it is up to Trump, takes the place of the recently deceased Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
If the Senate approves the nomination, the balance in the Supreme Court will tip further in favor of the Conservatives, with six Conservative and three Progressive justices. The nomination is therefore of great political importance.
The Senate wants to vote on the nomination before the presidential elections on 3 November. The Republicans have the majority there. Trump has said the first Senate hearings are scheduled for Oct. 12.
‘Brilliant lawyer’
Amy Coney Barrett is a strict Catholic and against abortion and gay marriage, among other things. She is still a judge at a federal court in Chicago, dealing with appeals. She was previously a professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Trump described Barrett at a ceremony in the garden of the White House as one of the most brilliant lawyers in the United States.
Barrett himself said he was honored by the nomination and wanted to be there for all Americans. To her critics, she said that as a high judge she is not there “for those in my own circle and certainly not for myself”.
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