President Donald Trump today nominated federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death more than a week ago.
Ginsburg left a vacancy on the Supreme Court after passing away last week at the age of 87 due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. The opening less than two months from the November election as the nation grapples with an historic level of cultural unrest has raised the stakes of the contentious contest.
Barrett has been considered a frontrunner for the seat even before Ginsburg’s death after being narrowly passed up for the open seat left by retired Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018. That was filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh following a grossly divisive and unfair confirmation battle featuring unsubstantiated allegations of sexual assault launched right before the vote on his nomination.
Barrett, a Catholic, has already faced grueling attacks targeting her faith. Despite Barrett’s highly successful public career managed while being the mother of seven children, two adopted, Newsweek and Reuters compared Barrett’s religious community to the dystopian society depicted in the “Handmaid’s Tale.”
Trump reportedly met Barrett, a seventh circuit federal Court of Appeals judge, Monday and Tuesday this week. Trump will also be holding a campaign rally in Pennsylvania later in the evening.