Trump will nominate a woman next week to succeed Ginsburg on Supreme Court
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C./W ASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump yesterday said he will nominate a woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, a move that could tip the court further to the right following the death of liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"I will be putting forth a nominee next week. It will be a woman," Trump said at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. "I think it should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men."
As Trump spoke, supporters chanted: "Fill that seat."
Earlier, he praised two women as possible choices for the U.S. Supreme Court: conservatives he elevated to federal appeals courts.
Trump, with a chance to nominate a third justice to a lifetime appointment, named Amy Coney Barrett of the Chicago-based 7th Circuit and
Barbara Lagoa of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit as possible nominees.
Ginsburg's death on Friday from cancer after 27 years on the court handed Trump, who is seeking reelection on Nov. 3, the opportunity to expand its conservative majority to 6-3 at a time of a gaping political divide in America.
Any nomination would require approval in the Senate, where Trump's Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
Not all Republican senators supported the move: Maine's Susan Collins yetserday said a nomination should wait.
"In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the President or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the President who is elected on November 3rd," Collins, facing a tough re-election race herself, said on
Twitter.
Democrats are still seething over the Republican Senate's refusal in 2016 to act on Democratic President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died 10 months before that election, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell then said the Senate should not act on a nominee during an election year. He has reversed that stance now.
Even if Democrats win the White House and a Senate majority in the November election, Trump and McConnell might be able to push through their choice before the new president and Congress are sworn in on Jan. 3.
Senior congressional Democrats raised the prospect of adding more justices next year to counterbalance Trump's nominees if they win control of the White House and Senate.