U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he will nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, moving to add his third justice to the bench and a fresh jolt to his faltering campaign just weeks before Americans vote on whether to give him a second term.
If confirmed by the Senate, Barrett, known to be a devout Catholic who considers abortion "always immoral,” would fill the seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The loss of liberal icon Ginsburg and the confirmation of the conservative Barrett, 48, could cement the court’s rightward shift for a generation.
"Today it is my honor to nominate one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett,” Trump said during a White House ceremony. "Barrett is a woman of remarkable intellect and character. She is eminently qualified for the job.”