Biden leads in two polls
US President Donald Trump has said the US Senate will likely open hearings on his third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, on October 12 and he expected a full Senate vote before the November 3 presidential election.
Senate judiciary committee chairman Lindsey Graham said on Saturday the panel would host a hearing for opening statements on October 12, followed by three to four days of questions and testimony.
Senate Republicans are pushing towards a quick confirmation for Barrett, 48, despite strenuous objections by Democrats who appear powerless to stop them. “It’s going to go fast. We’re looking to do it before the election. So it’s going to go very fast,” Trump said.
The hearings are part of an accelerated timeline as the Republican-controlled Senate seeks to vote on Trump’s nominee before the election, and cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court.
If confirmed, Barrett, a conservative and a devout Roman Catholic, will replace liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18.
In a White House Rose Garden ceremony on Saturday, Trump announced Barrett as his selection. Barrett said she would be a justice in the mould of the late staunch conservative Antonin Scalia.
Trump urged Republicans, who hold a 53-47 Senate majority, to confirm Barrett, a federal appeals court judge and a
favourite of religious conservatives, by election day. He has said he expects the justices to have to resolve the election in which he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
The Supreme Court has only once in US history had to resolve a presidential election, in 2000. Trump also has declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.
“I look forward to meeting with the nominee next week and will carefully study her record and credentials,” said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who has made confirming
Trump’s judicial appointments a paramount priority. “As I have stated, this nomination will receive a vote on the Senate floor in the weeks ahead.”
Biden held a lead over Trump among potential voters nationally, according to two polls conducted in the past few days.
He had a 10 percentage point advantage over Trump in a poll by the Washington Post and ABC News. Biden’s lead was eight points in another survey conducted by the New York Times and Siena College.