President Donald Trump on Saturday announced conservative appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett as his third US Supreme Court appointment, setting off a scramble in the Republican-led Senate to confirm her before Election Day in 5-1/2 weeks.
Barrett, 48, appeared at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden with Trump as he made the announcement.
“Today it is my honor to nominate one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds to the Supreme Court,” Trump said.
Turning to Barrett, Trump said that “you are very eminently qualified for the job.” She and her lawyer husband have seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti, and they joined her at the ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.
If confirmed to replace liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87 on September 18, Barrett would become the fifth woman ever to serve on the top US judicial body and push its conservative majority to a commanding 6-3. With Trump’s fellow Republicans controlling the Senate, confirmation appears certain, though Democrats may try to make the process as difficult as possible.
“I love the United States and I love the United States Constitution,” Barrett said, adding that she was “deeply honored” in the confidence that Trump had shown in her.
Barrett praised Ginsburg, saying the late justice was “a woman of enormous talent and consequence.”
Barrett pledged to be a justice along the lines of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch conservative who was friends with Ginsburg. Barrett once served as a clerk for Scalia.
“His judicial philosophy is mine too: a judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policy makers,” Barrett said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement Saturday praising the nomination.
“Judge Amy Coney Barrett is an exceptionally impressive jurist and an exceedingly well-qualified nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States,” McConnell said.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden repeated his call for the appointment to be made by the winner of the election on November 3.
“The Senate should not act on this vacancy until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress,” Biden said.
Barrett was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 and is a favorite of religious conservatives, a key Trump voter bloc. Conservative activists have hailed Trump’s selection, which surfaced on Friday night, while liberals have voiced dismay.
Like Trump’s two other appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett is young enough that she could serve for decades. Barrett is the youngest Supreme Court nominee since conservative Clarence Thomas was 43 in 1991.
“The stakes for our country are incredibly high, rulings that the Supreme Court will issue in the coming years will decide the survival of our Second Amendment (which guarantees the right to bear arms), our religious liberty, our public safety and so much more,” Trump said.
“I urge lawmakers and members of the media to refrain from personal or partisan attacks” on Barrett, Trump added.
