Trump to nominate conservative Judge Barrett for Supreme Court

US President Donald Trump is planning to pick appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett as his third Supreme Court appointment, pushing the high court's conservative majority to a commanding 6-3, according to reports.

According to multiple senior Republican sources with knowledge of the matter, Barrett, a conservative Judge, will fill in the place for the deceased liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

Trump had vowed that he would quickly nominate a successor to Ginsburg in his bid to tip the high court further to the right.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham signaled that he expected to have Barrett confirmed as a justice by November 3.

Barrett had been appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017.

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Her confirmation to replace Ginsburg, who died at age 87 on Sept. 18, would make Barrett the fifth woman ever to serve on the top US judicial body.

Conservative activists hailed Trump's selection of Barrett as the possible nominee for the post.

She is a favorite among American religious conservatives who constitute a support base for the right in elections.

Trump is scheduled to make the announcement on Saturday afternoon during a White House ceremony if he does not have a last-minute change of heart.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has said the winner of the November election should get to fill in Ginsburg's place.

Like Trump's two other justice appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett is young enough to serve for decades, leaving an enduring conservative imprint.

Barrett would be the youngest Supreme Court nominee since conservative Clarence Thomas was 43 in 1991.

A devout Roman Catholic, Barrett and her lawyer husband have seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti.

Born in New Orleans, Barrett received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School, a Catholic institution in Indiana.

The other possible nominee to fill Ginsburg's place is Barbara Lagoa.

She is a Cuban-American federal appeals court judge from Florida, who Trump appointed last year.

Trump has said he wants his nominee confirmed before the election so they would be able to participate in any election-related cases that could reach the justices, potentially casting a key vote in his favor.

The Supreme Court has only once determined the outcome of a US presidential election before. In 2000, it clinched Republican George W. Bush's victory over Democrat Al Gore.

"I think it's very important that we have nine justices," Trump said on Wednesday. 

Trump has repeatedly said voting by mail, a regular feature of American elections, will lead to voter fraud. He also has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election.

Filling the court's vacancy has given Trump, who is trailing Biden in opinion polls, a chance to shift the focus of voters away from his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden critical of Trump's response to coronavirus pandemic

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Sunday (March 29) that President Donald Trump should use the Defense Production Act to order increased production of masks, shields and other protective clothing needed by people in the medical profession who could potentially be affected by someone who has coronavirus.

If reelected, Trump would gain a good chance to make additional Supreme Court appointments if further vacancies arise.

The president could increase the conservative majority in the Supreme Court to 7 out of 9, if he gets to replace the court's current oldest member, 82-year-old liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.

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