Donald Trump has said he will nominate a woman to sit in the US Supreme Court and will present the nomination next week, as a result of a row following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"She's going to be a woman. I think
she has to be a woman because I really like women more than men," the
president told an election rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Liberal icon Justice Ginsberg has been
sitting in the Supreme Court since 1993 until his death on Friday due to
complications from pancreatic cancer.
Her death has sparked a battle over how to
appoint a successor, especially on controversial issues such as abortion
rights, with the perceived political leanings of Supreme Court judges. This is
an important political debate. Is the subject of
Democrats say no successor should be
elected’ until after the November election.
According to the non-profit media
organization NPR, Justice Ginsberg, himself a women's rights champion, had said
before his death that he would not be replaced’ until a new president was in
power.
But Mr. Trump has insisted the Republican
Party is committed to replacing Justice Ginsberg "without delay."
The Supreme Court's judicial appointment
procedure allows the president to nominate a candidate and then requires his
approval from the Senate.
This will give Mr. Trump a chance to
increase the conservative majority of the court to 6-3.
If successful, conservative justices could
dominate the Supreme Court for decades to come, and possibly eliminate Rowe
Wade - the Supreme Court's 1973 decision to ban abortion in the United States.
Protects women's rights.
Two conservative women have been nominated’
as potential candidates: Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th Circuit in Chicago and
Barbara Lagoa of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.
Ms Brett is a devout Roman Catholic who
says abortion rights groups are likely to vote to overturn a landmark decision
that has legalized abortion across the country.
Ms. Lagoa was the first Latina in Florida's
Supreme Court and would become the youngest justice in the Supreme Court if she
is appointed’ at the age of 52.
Mr. Trump has already appointed two
judges: Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
In their arguments over why the nomination
should be revoked’ Democrats pointed to the Republican Senate's refusal in 2016
to work on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
Conservative Antonin Scalia died just 10
months before this year's election, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
reiterated that the Senate would not act on any nominee during the election
year.
This time, he has reversed his position
and vowed to call for an immediate vote to confirm Mr. Trump's nominee.
In a statement posted online, Mr. Obama
said: "One of the basic tenets of the law. And everyday justice - is that
we apply the rules consistently, and not based on the fact that at the moment.
What is useful or beneficial? "
Presidential candidate Joe Biden also
expressed frustration: "There is no doubt about it, let me make it clear:
the electorate must elect a president, and this president must elect a successor to Justice Ginsburg."
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