President Trump Has Officially Nominated Amy Coney Barrett as His SCOTUS Nominee

From ELLE

Update, September 26:

On Saturday afternoon, President Trump officially announced his nomination for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States. Before a crowd of people, many of whom appeared to wear masks but were not distanced, Trump called the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a "legal giant" as he praised her long career.

As Trump announced his nominee, Judge Barrett, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, stood by his side. Her husband, Jesse, and seven children were in the crowd. During his speech, he noted that the conservative Barrett was a mentee of Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she clerked.

"If confirmed, Justice Barrett will make history as the first mother of school-aged children ever to serve on the Supreme Court," Trump said.

"Amy Coney Barrett will decide cases based on the text of the Constitution, as written," Trump added. As people across the country protest a Supreme Court confirmation before the November election, Trump said he was sure the confirmation process would be "extremely non-confrontational."

In her speech, Barrett said she is "deeply honored by the confidence" the president has "placed in [her]." She went on: "I love the United States, and I love the United States Constitution. I am truly humbled by the prospect of serving on the Supreme Court...should I be confirmed, I will be mindful of who came before me...Justice Ginsburg began her career at a time when women were not welcome in the legal profession, but she now only broke glass ceilings; she smashed them." She also brought up the "warm and rich friendship" Ginsburg and Barrett's mentor, Scalia, had with each other. "In both my personal and professional relationships, I strive to meet that standard," she said.

Original post, September 25:

After Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Friday, President Trump made one thing clear: He would be nominating a new justice as soon as possible, with the hopes of filling Ginsburg's seat before a president is sworn in next year, if not before the November election.

Now, according to the New York Times, the president has followed through on his promise, selecting Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the nominee. The Times reports Trump is planning to announce her as his choice on Saturday, according to "people close to the process who asked not to be identified disclosing the decision in advance." Barrett, a conservative, was previously reported to be a frontrunner for the position, along with Judge Barbara Lagoa.

CNN also reported the news, but clarified that sources said until an official announcement, "there is always the possibility that Trump makes a last-minute change."

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "The Senate will vote on this nomination this year," though he didn't specify whether the vote would happen before the presidential election or prior to the start of a new session in 2021, according to NPR.

FiveThirtyEight reports that a majority of Americans are in favor of letting the election winner choose the new justice. In considering 12 polls, on average, 52 percent of respondents said the government should wait on the nomination process.

Barrett is currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. If confirmed, she will be the youngest justice on the bench, according to the New York Times.

She clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia in the past, and was a faculty member at Notre Dame Law School, her alma mater. She earned "praise from colleagues as an astute scholar and jurist, even if they did not always agree on her jurisprudential premises," the Times reports.

Her peers have called her a "textualist," and "one who interprets the law based on its plain words, as opposed to someone who looks to accomplish the legislature’s purpose," according to the Times. She has also been described as an "originalist," or "a judge who interprets the Constitution according to the understanding of those who drafted and ratified it."

Barrett is reportedly conservative and Catholic. In a 2013 Notre Dame Magazine article, John Nagy writes that Barrett believes "life begins at conception."

For more on Barrett, click here.

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