Trump has chosen Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court
CHICAGO, IL — President Donald Trump has reportedly chosen conservative U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, multiple outlets were reporting Friday night.
Barrett, a devout Catholic now based in Chicago, has taken conservative stances on hot-button issues including abortion and gun control. She’s referred to abortion as “always immoral” and during her three years on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has twice ruled on abortion cases, both times favoring restricting access to abortion, according to CBS News.
Barrett is reported to have met with Trump at the White House this week and is the only potential Supreme Court nominee to have done so, CNN reported.
Trump was expected to announce Barrett as his pick on Saturday. According to The New York Times, White House aides cautioned that Trump could still change his mind and select a different candidate.
At 48, Barrett would be the youngest justice and could potentially sit on the highest court for decades.
Barrett has been a judge only since 2017 when Trump nominated her to the 7th Circuit. Prior to that nomination, she was an academic, teaching law at the University of Notre Dame since age 30, according to the Associated Press.
A New Orleans native, Barrett spent two years as a judicial law clerk, including one year for late Justice Antonin Scalia from 1998 to 1999. She returned to her alma mater, Notre Dame Law School, as a professor in 2002.
Of the nine Supreme Court justices, Barrett would be the sixth Catholic, joining Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, and Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Neil Gorsuch was raised Catholic but reportedly attends an Episcopal church.
All of Trump’s potential Supreme Court nominees in 2018 — including Kavanaugh and Barrett — were also Catholic.