The White House has announced that President Trump will name his nominee to fill the seat left vacant on the United States Supreme court at the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday. That nomination will set into motion the constitutionally mandated “advice and consent” confirmation hearings in the US Senate.
Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have stated without reservation that they will use “every arrow in their quiver” to derail the nomination process. It is the consensus among Democrats that any nomination to fill Ginsburg’s seat be made by the next president and after the General Election.
“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country, Pelosi said in an interview with ABC News. Pelosi stressed that the Constitution requires Congress “to use every arrow in our quiver” and that she is not ruling any options out. The House, however, has no official capacity in confirming a US Supreme Court nominee, that obligation left exclusively to the US Senate.
When ask to respond to the statements of opposition issued by Democrat leadership and how he believes GOP senators might react to those threats in an election year, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows pointed out that when Republican senators “vote like Republicans, it works well for them” at the ballot box.
President Trump has made it clear that he intends to nominate a female to the vacant Supreme Court seat and his short-list has some in Washington speculating on two likely choices.
I will be announcing my Supreme Court Nominee on Saturday, at the White House! Exact time TBA.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2020
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, 48, sits on the Chicago-based Seventh US Court of Appeals. Barrett clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia and was a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. A pro-life Roman Catholic, Barrett is seen as an originalist believing that the US Constitution should be interpreted as the Framers intended.
Judge Barbara Lagoa was nominated by President Trump to the 11th US Court of appeals located in Atlanta and confirmed by the Senate by an 85-15 margin in 2019. She previous served on Florida’s State Supreme Court. The native of Miami of Cuban descent scored a “Well Qualified” rating from the American Bar Association prior to her Senate confirmation, the highest rating possible from the ABA.
President Trump will make his announcement from the White House this Saturday.
