Donald Trump says Senate will ‘easily’ confirm Supreme Court pick before US election
Donald Trump’s prediction on just when Judge Amy Coney Barrett, his controversial pick to join the US Supreme Court, will be confirmed has prompted outrage from Joe Biden and Democrats.
World Breaking News
Don't miss out on the headlines from World Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Twitter clamps down on teens paid to promote Trump
- Why Latino vote could decide US presidential election
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday (local time) that the Senate will “easily” confirm his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the election, despite furious Democratic opposition to his bid to steer the court rightward for years to come.
Mr Trump has nominated Judge Barrett, a darling of conservatives for her religious views, to replace the late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a lifetime seat on the top court, potentially impacting some of the most partisan issues in America, from abortion to gun rights to health care.
His decision to push her nomination through just weeks before the tense and potentially disputed November 3 election, in which polls show he is the underdog, has galvanised Democrats, who are calling for the decision to be made by the winner of the vote.
His election rival, Democrat Joe Biden, has led the charge.
“The Senate should not act on this vacancy until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress,” Mr Biden said over the weekend, just moments after Mr Trump announced Judge Barrett’s nomination.
But Mr Trump expressed confidence on Sunday in an interview on Fox News in the US.
“I think we’re going to have it done easily before the election,” he said.
“I think it would be nice to do. Get it out of the way,” he continued, adding: “We have plenty of time.”
Barring a huge surprise, Republican senators, who have 53 out of 100 votes in the upper house of Congress, are expected to confirm Judge Barrett.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has already announced that a vote will be held “this year.”
It comes as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called on the US Senate to hold off voting on Judge Barrett.
Mr Biden claimed that the right thing to do would be to wait to fill the vacant seat on the court until after January’s inauguration, reports Fox News.
“The Senate has to stand strong for our democracy,” Mr Biden said on Sunday (local time). He went on to say that senators should “take a step back from the brink,” and that “this is a time to de-escalate.”
Mr Biden went on to claim that “the very soul of our country is at stake” in November’s election, as issues such as abortion, immigration and the environment hang in the balance. He said that is why people are going to the polls this year.
“Their voices may not matter to Donald Trump. They may not matter to [Sen.] Mitch McConnell,” Biden said. “But there are Senate Republicans out there who know in their hearts that if they shut-out the voices of those during a voting period, during an election, they’re closing the door on American democracy thereafter.”
Mr Biden said the issue was a matter of life or death for some Americans.
“It doesn’t matter what the American people want,” Biden said Sunday. “President Trump sees his chance to fulfil his explicit mission: steal away the vital protections of the Affordable Care Act from countless families that have come to rely on them for their health, their financial security and the lives of those they love.”
TRUMP OFFICIALLY NAMES COURT PICK
On Saturday, Mr Trump formally nominated Judge Barrett to the US Supreme Court, calling her a “woman of unparalleled achievement”.
Judge Barrett would replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died earlier this month. Mr Trump called Justice Ginsburg a “legal giant and a pioneer for women.”
Judge Barrett, however, has drawn scorn from Democrats over her position on gender equality, LGBTQ rights and anti-abortion stance.
Judge Barrett is his third nomination to the high court after Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The mother of seven said it was “momentous decision”.
“If the Senate does me the honour of confirming me, I pledge to discharge the responsibilities to the very best of my ability: I love the United States and I love the United States Constitution,” she said.
“I am truly humbled by the prospect of serving on the Supreme Court.”
GINSBURG REMEMBERED
It comes after Mr Trump was booed late last week by crowds as he paid his respects to Justice Ginsburg, who was lying in repose atop the steps of the Supreme Court building in Washington DC.
According to the New York Post, crowds on the footpath chanted for Mr Trump, who was wearing a mask, to “honour her wish,” and yelled, “Vote him out.”
Justice Ginsburg allegedly dictated a final, “most fervent wish” to her granddaughter, Clare Spera, “that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Thousands of mourners and admirers streamed past her flag-draped casket until late in the evening Wednesday to honour the women’s rights champion and anchor of the high court’s liberal wing.
Informed of her death last Friday, the president called her an “amazing woman” who “led an amazing life.”
Hundreds of Justice Ginsburg’s former law clerks lined the steps on Wednesday as her coffin arrived at the Supreme Court building and was carried into the Great Hall by Supreme Court police who served as pallbearers.
Before a private ceremony for Justice Ginsburg for friends, family and the other eight justices, Chief Justice John Roberts lauded the jurist who became known as “the Notorious RBG” as a “rock star.”
The feminist icon and progressive stalwart who served 27 years on America’s Supreme Court until her death last Friday, aged 87.
“It has been said that Ruth wanted to be an opera virtuoso, but became a rock star instead. But she chose the law. Subjected to discrimination in law school and the job market because she was a woman, Ruth would grow to become the leading advocate fighting such discrimination in court,” Chief Justice John Roberts said during the ceremony in
the Great Hall, which was attended by family and friends and the remaining eight justices.
Roberts added that many knew by her rapper nickname, “Notorious RBG.”
Justice Roberts said Justice Ginsburg’s passing “weighed heavily on her family but the court was her family, too. This building was her home, too.”
“Of course, she will live on and what she did to improve the law and the lives of all of us, and yet still Ruth is gone. And we grieve,” he said.
Justice Roberts said the late justice helped to move the nation “closer to equal justice under law.”
“Later she became a star on the bench, where she sat for 27 years for 483 majority of concurring, and dissenting opinions, will steer the court for decades,” he said.
Justice Ginsburg’s health had been one of the most keenly watched developments of the 2020 race and her battles with cancer had lead news bulletins in recent months.
She recently said she did not want to be replaced by Mr Trump, whose fate will be decided in less than six weeks at the 2020 presidential election.
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” she said in a “parting statement” dictated days before her death, according to NPR.
Just last week, Mr Trump announced 20 potential conservative nominees for the Supreme Court, even while there were no vacancies for the lifetime appointment.
The Supreme Court is America’s highest court, a third branch of government charged with interpreting laws to ensure they are constitutional.
TRIBUTES FLOW IN FOR GINSBURG
Last week, politicians and celebrities from around the world rushed to social media to celebrate the life of Justice Ginsberg.
Mr Trump expressed shock at learning of the passing of Justice Ginsburg.
“She just died? Wow I didn’t know that,” Mr Trump said to reporters after a campaign stop at a Minnesota airport. “She led an amazing life, and what else can you say about such an amazing woman.”
Mr Trump on Friday hailed the late US Supreme Court justice as a “titan of the law” whose legal expertise and historic decisions inspired generations of Americans.
“Today, our nation mourns the loss of a titan of the law” who was “renowned for her brilliant mind and her powerful dissents at the Supreme Court,” Mr Trump said in a statement.
“Her opinions, including well-known decisions regarding the legal equality of women and the disabled, have inspired all Americans, and generations of great legal minds,” he added.
“May her memory be a great and magnificent blessing to the world.”
Former US President George W Bush released a statement following the news that said, “Laura [Bush] and I join our fellow Americans in mourning the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She dedicated many of her 87 remarkable years to the pursuit of justice and equality, and she inspired more than one generation of women and girls.”
“Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me. There will never be another like her. Thank you RBG,” former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted. Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court under Clinton’s husband, President Bill Clinton.
“Tonight, the flags are flying at half staff over the Capitol to honour the patriotism of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Every woman and girl, and therefore every family, in America has benefited from her brilliance,” US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote.
“The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a tremendous loss to our country. She was an extraordinary champion of justice and equal rights, and will be remembered as one of the great justices in modern American history,” former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said.
My statement on the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg: pic.twitter.com/fFtoOypOrj
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 19, 2020
“America lost a giant. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was shunned from courtrooms when she began her career because she was a woman. But she persisted, blazing a trail for millions of women and others who had been excluded or oppressed. RBG is a lioness of the law. She is irreplaceable,” US Congressman Adam Schiff said.
“I am so, so saddened by the news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has passed. Justice Ginsburg was a trailblazer and an extraordinary jurist who devoted her life to advancing the causes of equality and justice. We are in her debt. May her memory be a blessing to us all,” Senator Cory Booker said.
“Rest in peace Ruth Bader Ginsburg – a true legend, an iconoclast, a glass ceiling breaker, and a feminist icon. She changed the world in so many incredible ways. Prayers, love and strength to her family during this dark time. I hope you have fun with Antonin Scalia in heaven …” commentator Meghan McCain wrote. McCain’s late father, Senator John McCain was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, and was attacked during President Trump’s 2016 campaign for being a prisoner of war during World War II.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Ruth Bader Ginsburg tonight. She leaves a legacy of thoughtful public service, a dedication to the law, and a life of great accomplishment. May she Rest In Peace,” Senator Rand Paul said.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg lived an extraordinary life. She fought to ensure equal protection in our laws, fearlessly dissented and defended, and was a powerful role model for us all. I’m devastated to hear of her passing. Thank you, Justice Ginsburg. Rest in power,” one-time Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand said.
“We have lost an American Icon of untold proportions, a feminist with the steeliest spine, and a jurist of remarkable talent, legal precision, and a yearning for justice for all,” California Congresswoman Jackie Speier tweeted.
“It is not an understatement to say that Ruth Bader Ginsburg single-handedly changed the futures of millions of American women,” writer Ashley Perez said.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the kind of scholar and patriot you get excited about explaining to your kids. The kind of person who you say “who knows, one day you could be HERâ€. I hope you rest well, RBG, you must have been tired from changing the world.
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) September 19, 2020
Tennis great Billie Jean King wrote “My Shero, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has died. To pay tribute, those who believe in equality & freedom must fight for the ideals she championed. For her. For us. For generations to follow.”
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her life in pursuit of an equal world. She fought for the unheard, and through her decisions, she changed the course of American history. We can never repay what she has given us, but we all can honour her legacy by working toward true equality, together,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the kind of scholar and patriot you get excited about explaining to your kids. The kind of person who you say “who knows, one day you could be HER”. I hope you rest well, RBG, you must have been tired from changing the world,” comedian and actor Mindy Kaling wrote.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A model for fairness, rational thought, and progress. She will be missed more than we can yet imagine,” comedian Seth McFarlane wrote.
Originally published as Donald Trump says Senate will ‘easily’ confirm Supreme Court pick before US election