President Trump vowed that he would appoint a woman to fill the vacancy left by late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. There are now two conservative female judges that are at the top of President Trump's list of nominees.
Women in the Supreme Court
In a phone call with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Trump named Amy Coney Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and Barbara Lagoa of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta as his possible choices, according to The New York Times.
The president stated on September 19 that he would nominate a candidate to the Supreme Court, which would boost the conservative majority on the bench. The Democrats say that the nomination should not happen until voters have picked a president in the November election.
President Trump promised that he would nominate a woman to replace the late Ginsburg, who was an icon renowned for landmark cases on gender equality.
Both Lagoa and Barrett have conservative track records, which means it is possible that they would take the court in a different direction from Ginsburg's values.
Also Read: President Trump Reveals Supreme Court Nominees If He Wins Reelection
The nominees
Barrett is viewed as an anti-abortion judge; she once said that life begins at conception, according to Politico. However, she's also questioned whether the decision to legalize abortion can be overturned and focus the funding for the procedure instead, according to Bloomberg Law.
In 2013, Barrett said that the fundamental element, that the woman has a right to choose abortion, will stand. She added that the controversy is about funding, it is a question of whether abortion will be publicly or privately funded.
Barrett is a former clerk to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, which is said to have appealed to President Trump. The president described her as highly respected, according to the Times. Barrett is 48-years-old and was born and raised in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, Lagoa started her career by working as an unpaid attorney for the family of Elian Gonzalez, the Cuba-born boy whose custody case was embroiled in heated international and immigration controversy.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush nominated her to an appeals court, and current Governor Ron DeSantis chose her for the state's Supreme Court, making her the first Hispanic woman in that role, according to Politico.
Lagoa is 52-years-old, and her conservative credentials include membership in the influential Federalist Society. If President Trump nominates Lagoa, it could boost his odds in Florida.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was expected to start readying for the confirmation process on September 21.
Currently, there are 51 Republicans in the Senate, which is the exact number of votes needed to confirm the nominee of the president for the Supreme Court.
However, President Trump's goal to replace Ginsburg as soon as possible suffered a setback on September 20 when Sen. Lisa Murkoswki of Alaska became the second Republican senator to say that she opposes filling the Supreme Court vacancy before the presidential election.
The senator said that she would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy so close to the election.
