by Mary Margaret Olohan
President Donald Trump will nominate federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States, multiple outlets reported Friday evening.
Sources close to the process said that Trump will announce Barrett as the Supreme Court nominee Saturday, according to the New York Times. Trump is not known to have met with any other candidate for the vacancy, the Times reported, noting that aides warned there is a possibility Trump could change his mind before the announcement.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told congressional Republicans that he will choose Barrett, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The White House declined to comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
If nominated and confirmed, Barrett would replace former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18 at the age of 87 due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Barrett’s pro-life stances contrast sharply to Ginsburg’s fierce defense of abortion access in the United States, and the projected Supreme Court nominee is frank about prioritizing her Catholic faith.
“If you can keep in mind that your fundamental purpose in life is not to be a lawyer, but to know, love and serve God,” Barrett said during a 2006 commencement address to Notre Dame law students, “you truly will be a different kind of lawyer.”
Trump considered nominating Barrett to replace former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018 but ultimately chose Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“I’m saving her for Ginsburg,” Trump said of Barrett in 2019, Axios reported.
The president appointed Barrett to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017, according to the New York Times. Her confirmation hearings gained national attention when Democratic lawmakers questioned her about her Catholic beliefs, suggesting that Barrett’s Catholicism made her unfit to serve as a judge.
“The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein told her. “And that’s of concern.”
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Amy Coney Barrett” by Notre Dame Law School.
