LADIES CHOICE FORDON
2 favored for RBG seat
President Trump on Monday said that he’s considering five women to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court and plans to announce his pick after memorials for the liberal icon.
Trump told reporters that he has “one or two” favorites, including federal Judges Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa.
“Five women are being looked at and vetted very carefully,” Trump said as he departed for a rally.
Lagoa, 52, is a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and is a Cuban-American former justice on the Florida Supreme Court. Barrett, 48, is an appeals court judge from Indiana for the Seventh Circuit and is a favorite among religious conservatives.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday vowed to hold a swift vote on Trump’s nominee, who could shift the ideological balance on the court.
“The Senate has more than sufficient time to process a nomination. History and process make that perfectly clear,” McConnell said.
McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted there is “overwhelming precedent” for the Senate to act quickly on a nomination, noting that there were 43 days until the presidential election and 104 days until the end of this Congress.
Democrats are bitterly protesting the plan, saying they were cheated by McConnell’s 2016 refusal to hold a vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee for nearly a year. Unlike that standoff, the president and Senate now are members of the same party.
So far just two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — said they would rather delay a vote until after the election. Republicans hold 53 seats and need at least 50 senators to vote for the nominee.
Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Monday that he wants to wait for memorials to Ginsburg to be over before he names his choice.
“We should wait until the services are over, for Justice Ginsburg, and so we’re looking probably at Friday, or maybe Saturday,” he said.
Trump pushed back when asked if he was going against Ginsburg’s dying wish by appointing someone before the election, questioning if she even personally made the remarks — in which it was reported she dictated to her granddaughter in her last days her wish that she only be replaced by the winner of November’s election.
“Well, I don’t know that she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi?” the president said. “I would be more inclined to the second.”
Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday after a private ceremony for family, friends and members of the court, according to a statement from the court’s spokeswoman.
Ginsburg, who died Friday at 87, will lie in repose under the portico at the top of the stairs of the Supreme Court building so that mourners can pay their respects.
On Friday, Ginsburg’s casket will lie in state in the National Statuary Hall of the Capitol, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A formal ceremony will be held on Friday morning but it will be restricted to invited guests because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. A private interment will be held next week at Arlington National Cemetery.