Donald Trump rams through the appointment of a Supreme Court justice on the brink of an election.
By Kenneth Tiven in the USA
In the midst of a pandemic that threatens his re-election, US President Donald Trump accomplished what few American leaders have ever managed with the appointment of a third Supreme Court justice in his first term in office. On Monday afternoon, a sharply divided Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as the 4th woman to join the court in its 226-year history. She is just the 15th Justice, as they have lifetime tenure and rarely leave before they are very old. Barrett is 48 years old and likely to serve beyond mid-Century.
The clearly partisan nature of her selection and record in her brief stay on a Federal Appeals Court suggested she would be a reliable conservative vote. She was a law professor at Notre Dame University in the state of Indiana before Trump was given her name by the Federalist society in 2017 for the Appeals Court. That conservative legal group was picked by Trump to select candidates for judgeships who are very conservative in their reading of the law.
This was the first time in 151 years that a justice was confirmed with no votes from the minority party. It was 52-48 reflecting the acrimony around how the Republicans rammed this appointment through on the brink of an election. To do this, they shredded all their past pronouncements about not selecting justices close to an election as well as several Senate rules on how things are done. Such is the prerogative of a party in power and afraid of losing an election.
President Barack Obama was ignored by the Republican-controlled Senate in March, 2016. The GOP refused to even consider his appointment of Merrick Garland to replace Justice Anton Scalia who had died. Too close to the end of Obama’s term, they said, explaining the people should decide it with the coming presidential election. Today they say we are in power and do what ever we want.
Will the addition of a 6th conservative make a big difference in how the court rules on health care within a month, or on any election issues arising from a close race between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden next week.
Senate Democrats warned of a disastrous precedent that would draw retaliation if they win power and Congressional control in the upcoming election. If they win big enough, they might consider expanding the courts membership to 11 or 15 judges. Trump swore her into her new position at the White House shortly after the vote. Most presidents find out that their appointees are not lapdogs when it comes to the Supreme Court decisions. Both Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s first two appointees, have provided some surprises already.
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What Barrett does will have to be considered when she does it. Her appointment brings joy to many Republicans and generates an equal amount of anger among Democrats for the way it was managed in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s most untimely death.