Trump confirms will announce Supreme Court pick on Saturday

SPH Brightcove Video
Republican Senator Mitt Romney said the Senate should move forward with a vote on President Trump's replacement for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paving the way for Trump to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
The US Supreme Court seat has been left open by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP, REUTERS) - President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday (Sept 22) that he will announce his pick for the Supreme Court seat left open by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday.

"I will be announcing my Supreme Court Nominee on Saturday, at the White House! Exact time TBA," Trump said.

Democratic opponents, led by presidential candidate Joe Biden, have demanded that the Republicans hold off on replacing Ginsburg until after the Nov 3 election.

However, Trump and the leaders of the Republican-held Senate have said they will go ahead and fill the seat.

US Senate Republicans on Tuesday will have their first formal gathering since liberal Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg's death gave them a chance to cement a 6-3 conservative majority at the court ahead of the November election.

Democrats' hopes of keeping the seat empty faded on Monday when two Republican Senators, Chuck Grassley and Cory Gardner, signalled their support for moving forward quickly.

Republicans, who will meet for a weekly lunch on Tuesday, hold a 53-47 edge in the Senate. That means at least four Republicans would need to defect to prevent a vote on a Trump nominee.

Two Republican senators - Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski - have said the chamber should not move forward with a Trump nominee before the election.

Democrats had hoped to pick up similar support from Gardner, who faces a tough re-election fight, and Grassley. But both men on Monday said they support voting on a qualified Trump pick before the election.

Democrats had also hoped that Senator Mitt Romney, a Trump critic, would fail to back Trump's efforts.

However, on Tuesday, he said he would not oppose a vote, solidifying the party's majority to move forward with the controversial pre-election process.

"I intend to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the President's nominee. If the nominee reaches the Senate floor, I intend to vote based upon their qualifications," Romney said in a statement.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, who like Trump is seeking re-election in November, said late on Monday that Republicans had the votes to back the president's nominee before the election.

"We're going to move forward in the committee, we're going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so we can vote before the election.

"That's the constitutional process," he told Fox News in an interview.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he was zeroing in on one or two candidates among five who are under consideration.

Two federal appeals court judges appointed by Trump are clear front-runners: Amy Coney Barrett of the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals and Barbara Lagoa of the Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

SPH Brightcove Video
A look at Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa - the conservative judges Trump is considering to replace the late Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Supreme Court.

Trump met Barrett at the White House on Monday, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made clear he would usher through a vote this year, although he has not specified when.

"The Senate has more than sufficient time to process a nomination. History and precedent make that perfectly clear," McConnell said on the Senate floor on Monday.

Democrats have accused McConnell of hypocrisy for being eager to usher a Trump nominee to a confirmation vote.

In 2016, he refused even to consider Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee to fill a vacancy on the court left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, saying it would be inappropriate to do so during an election year.

"I believe we should wait and see who the winner of the election is and not proceed with a vote," Collins told reporters on Monday.

"If the American people are going to have confidence in the fairness of the system, then I think that is the way that we should proceed."

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