Trump’s Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett set to be confirmed one week before US election
The appointment would give the Supreme Court a decisive 6-3 conservative majority.
Amy Coney Barrett, US President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, is to be confirmed today (26 October), according to reports.
The news comes one week before the US election, and follows conservative-leaning Barrett apologising for calling sexuality a “preference”.
Barrett’s confirmation is seen as a major win for Trump and the Republicans, as it tips the Supreme Court to the right, with a 6-3 conservative majority that could make decisions on issues from abortion to LGBTQ rights.
Trump is expected to swear in Coney Barrett in an outdoor ceremony at 9pm tonight, reports CNN.
According to the publication, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last night said: “The Senate is doing the right thing. We’re moving this nomination forward and colleagues, by tomorrow night we’ll have a new member of the United States Supreme Court.”
Trump’s previous nominations to the Supreme Court are Neil Gorsuch on 1 February 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh on 10 July 2018.
Amy Coney Barrett, whose name alone is a bad parody of a suburban religious homophobe, is going to be confirmed today. Our rights are so fragile.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 26, 2020
Responding to the news about Coney Barrett, The Lion King actor Billy Eichner, who is gay, tweeted: “Amy Coney Barrett, whose name alone is a bad parody of a suburban religious homophobe, is going to be confirmed today. Our rights are so fragile.”
“I would never mean to use a term that would cause any offense to the LGBTQ community”
During a confirmation hearing earlier this month, while dodging a question regarding where she stands on marriage equality, Barrett said she has “never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on the basis of sexual preference.”
She later said: “I certainly didn’t mean and would never mean to use a term that would cause any offense to the LGBTQ community.”
Barrett’s nomination follows the death of liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on 18 September 2020.
The US election takes place on 3 November 2020. It will see Republican leader Trump go up against Democrat Joe Biden.
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