Trump’s judge on her way to court

WASHINGTON: Whether he wins or loses in November, Donald Trump will dramatically affect America’s future, with news the Senate is set to confirm his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

The Senate Judiciary Committee went through her testimony on her deeply conservative record and views on hot-button issues such as abortion and the soon-to-be reviewed Affordable Care Act.

Democratic senators made last-minute pitches to Republican colleagues to honour their promises of four years ago not to seat a justice close to a presidential election, saying they would lose public trust if they pushed ahead.

But committee chairman Lindsey Graham repeated a favourite line of Mr Trump’s, underscoring their voting p power, saying: “Elections have consequences.”

He said the committee would vote on Ms Barrett’s confirmation on October 22, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Republican-controlled Senate would begin debate the following day, making likely her final approval just days later.

If approved, Ms Barrett (pictured) would give conservative judges a 6-3 majority.

Mr Trump has said he wants a judge who will end abortion rights for women and kill the ACA, the so-called Obamacare program that extends healthcare to millions of uninsured Americans.

The court will hear a case on the ACA a week after the November 3 election.

Ms Barrett, 48, follows a fundamentalist school of judicial thought and is a devout Catholic who opposes abortion. But over two days of intensive questioning, she steadfastly avoided expressing her legal and religious views.

“There were a lot of questions that were in-bounds that she refused to answer,” complained Senator Cory Booker.

She also refused to say if she would recuse herself if, in the days after joining the Supreme Court, she has to review any legal challenge on the results of the election.