President Donald Trump is set to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, to fill the seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Cornyn announced late Friday that the Senate “will begin a thorough review of Judge Barrett’s nomination.”
“Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a legal trailblazer [with] respect for the law & our nation’s founding principles,” Cornyn said of Barrett. “Throughout her career, she has maintained the importance of an independent judiciary that interprets the law & Constitution as-written, operating free from political pressure.”
He said that the review of Barrett’s nomination is “a process that shouldn’t be rushed.”
“Despite previous attacks based on her religious faith, I hope Democrats choose not to engage in another character assassination, as they did against Justice Kavanaugh,” he wrote. “Judge Barrett has impressed the brightest judicial and legal minds with her profound understanding of the law.”
Multiple media outlets had reported late Friday, all citing anonymous sources, that the president was set to nominate Barrett to the Supreme Court.
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment immediately.
Barrett has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since late 2017.
Trump told reporters late Friday as he was returning to Washington that he had made a decision.
“In my own mind, yes,” he said. When asked about Barrett, he told reporters: “I haven’t said that ... They’re all great ... I haven’t said it was her but she is outstanding.”
He also told reporters that he did not meet with former Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Lagoa, although he had earlier said that he was considering meeting her in Florida this week. Lagoa is the U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
If Barrett is confirmed, she would join Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh—Trump’s two other appointments—to form a 6-3 majority of Supreme Court justices who were appointed by Republican presidents.
