On Saturday, September 26th, President Trump announced his Supreme Court justice nominee during a gathering in the White House rose garden; Amy Coney Barrett. She is Trump’s third nominee after Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. 

Judge Barrett has served on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals since 2017. She also clerked for the late Justice Scalia after graduating from Notre Dame Law School. 

If appointed to the court, Amy Coney would be the fifth woman to serve as a justice out of the 114 that have previously served and are currently serving. 

This announcement has come at a controversial time as some believe that the recently vacant seat should be left open until after the election. 

Back in 2016, former President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to succeed Antonin Scalia. Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell declared that the next President to be voted on later that year should choose the next Justice. The outcome was the Senate blocking the nomination of Garland from gaining any traction.  

Going forward, however, once the President selects a nominee a judiciary hearing must take place to review the candidates qualifications. From there, the committee will decide whether to give positive or negative or no recommendation to the senate. 

Both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the United States Senate currently hold a Republican majority. It is likely that Amy Coney Barrett will be appointed as a Justice with support from the Senate. 

Barrett has already received criticism from detractors on Twitter with some people referring to her as a colonizer and a racist because of her adoption of two children from Haiti. There are also those that feel her Catholic religion would entail putting her own interest before the needs of the nation.    

Amy Coney is expected to begin the first phase of the nomination process on 12 October.