Trump picks Barrett in move to tilt supreme court rightward

President Donald Trump on Saturday nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court, and she pledged to become a justice in the mould of the late staunch conservative Antonin Scalia, setting another milestone in Trump’s rightward shift of the top US judicial body.

Trump’s announcement during a White House Rose Garden ceremony — with Barrett, 48, by his side and her seven children on hand — sets off a scramble by Senate Republicans to confirm her before Election Day in 51/2 weeks, when Trump will be seeking a second term in office.

If confirmed by the Senate to replace liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87 on September 18, Barrett would become the fifth woman ever to serve on the court and push its conservative majority to a commanding 6-3.

Like Trump’s two other appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett is young enough that she could serve for decades in the lifetime job, leaving a lasting conservative imprint.

Scalia, who died in 2016, was one of the most influential conservative justices in recent history.

Barrett previously served as a clerk for Scalia on the high court and described him as her mentor.

With Trump’s fellow Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority, confirmation appears certain, though Democrats may try to make it as difficult as possible.

An emboldened supreme court conservative majority could shift the US to the right on hot-button issues by, among other things, curbing abortion rights, expanding religious rights, striking down gun control laws and halting the expansion of LGBTI rights.

Barrett, a devout Roman Catholic, was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based seventh US circuit court of appeals in 2017 and is a favourite of religious conservatives.

Trump said Barrett would be the first mother of school-age children ever on the court. — Reuters