Barrett Trump’s pick for top court
WASHINGTON • U. S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate conservative federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, two sources said on Friday.
Trump has said he will announce on Saturday his choice to replace Ginsburg, the liberal icon who died on Sept. 18 at age 87. The Republican president had multiple times this week mentioned Barrett as under consideration.
Two sources confirmed on Friday that Trump plans to nominate Barrett, but warned that Trump could change his mind. Trump himself told reporters on Friday that he had made his decision, but declined to say who his pick was.
Barrett, 48, was appointed by Trump to the Chicago- based 7 th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 and is known to personally hold conservative religious views. Supreme Court justices are given lifetime appointments.
If confirmed, Trump’s nominee would give conservatives a 6- 3 majority on the court at a time of intense political divisions.
The late Bader Ginsburg made history in death as she did in life when she was honoured Friday as the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. Dignitaries filed into Statuary Hall to honour Ginsburg, who died from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, in the final official ceremony before she’s laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
“Justice did not arrive like a lightning bolt, but rather through dogged persistence,” Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt said of the late justice during her reflection. “All the days of her life she pursued justice.” Holtzblatt urged “we the people” to carry on Ginsburg’s legacy.
Ginsburg’s remains laid on the same catafalque built in 1865 for president Abraham Lincoln’s body, “appropriate for her and her fight for equality in our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday morning on CBS before the service.
Two musical selections were performed by the American mezzo- soprano Denyce Graves, a Washington native: the spiritual Deep River, and Gene Scheer’s American Anthem. After Graves’ second performance those in attendance were able to pay their respects to Ginsburg before the end of the service.