Trump names ´brilliant´ Amy Coney to US Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, September 27 (online): : President Donald Trump named Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Saturday, setting in motion a rush by Republicans to cement a conservative majority on the court on the eve of a tense and potentially disputed US election.
Trump stood alongside Barrett at a White House Rose Garden ceremony to announce his decision, calling her “one of the most brilliant and gifted minds” in the legal world.
Despite strong opposition from Democrats, he predicted a “very quick” and “straightforward” confirmation in the Republican-led Senate, with the process completed before the November 3 election.
If confirmed, Barrett will fill the seat of late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, likely steering the court to the right for years, expanding the current conservative wing´s sometimes shaky 5-4 advantage to a solid 6-3.
Trump has previously filled two of the nine seats on the high court.
With the liberals´ influence waning, the court will likely see a replay of some of the biggest judicial disputes in the nation, not least abortion rights and the already battered Obamacare health care plan.