During a briefing, US President Donald Trump presented a candidate for the seat of the United States Supreme Court Justice - Amy Connie Barrett.

“Today it is a great honor for me to propose one of the most outstanding and gifted lawyers in our country for a position in the Supreme Court ... This woman is distinguished by unprecedented achievements, brilliant mind, impeccable reputation and unshakable loyalty to the Constitution.

All this is Judge Amy Barrett, "said the head of the White House.

Earlier, Trump expressed confidence that the procedure for approving a nominee for the post of chief judge in the Senate, where the majority belongs to the Republicans, will not last long.

Barrett, 48, Judge of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana) is conservative, opposed to abortion and criticized the health care reform initiated by Barack Obama.

If approved, she will become the youngest member of the US Supreme Court in its current composition.

According to Lindsay Graham, head of the US Senate Legal Committee, hearings on Barrett's candidacy will start on October 12 and will last three to four days.

At the same time, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has already called on the Senate not to approve Barrett's candidacy before the elections to be held on November 3.

“Americans understand that decisions of the United States Supreme Court affect their daily lives.

The US Constitution is drafted in such a way that voters have only one opportunity to influence the appointment to the Supreme Court.

This moment has come, and their opinion must be taken into account.

The Senate should not nominate a candidate for the post until the American people elect the next president and the next congress, ”Biden said.

  • US President Donald Trump and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Connie Barrett

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  • © Carlos Barria

According to him, Barrett "did not agree with the decision of the US Supreme Court to approve the Affordable Health Care Act, which, according to Biden, has" written confirmation. "

“In 2012, she criticized the decision of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, to pass this law, supported by a majority vote,” the politician said.  

A bundle of interests

Recall that the seat of one of the nine chief justices became vacant after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away on September 18.

She ended up in the US Supreme Court thanks to the appointment of the 42nd President of the United States from the Democrats, Bill Clinton, in 1993.

Despite the fact that the United States is not encouraged when supreme justices publicly express their political position, Ginsburg did not hide her anti-Trump views.

Even before the 2016 elections, she criticized the candidacy of a businessman.

So, in an interview with CNN, she accused Trump of inconsistency.

Trump, in turn, called then Ginsburg's comments "extremely inappropriate."

According to the radio station NPR, Mrs. Ginzburg, a few days before her death, dictated to her granddaughter a wish that the new president would appoint a judge in her place.

Recall that federal judges of the United States are appointed for life on the proposal of the head of state.

Of the current eight members of the court, five were appointed by Republican presidents, two of them by Trump.

It is worth noting that the Supreme Court can play a decisive role if the US decides to challenge the results of the presidential election for any reason.

The last such case occurred in 2000, when the Supreme Court, which also included the late Judge Ginsburg, halted a recount in Florida, a traditionally vacillating state whose election results determined the outcome of the entire presidential race.

As a result, the Republican George W. Bush won the victory.

However, Trump did not rule out a scenario in which it is the Supreme Court that will decide the outcome of the upcoming elections. 

“I think it will go to the Supreme Court.

And I think it is very important that we have nine judges ... I think there is nothing good in a “four by four” situation, if you understand what I mean.

I don't know if you will understand.

Should be eight to zero or nine to zero.

But if the process is more politicized than it should, it is very important to have a ninth judge, ”the American leader was quoted by the CBS channel.

  • The White house

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  • © Erin Scott

Trump noted that the chief justices will have to consider the "machinations that the Democrats are doing," probably referring to possible rigging during the mail vote, in which, according to the head of the White House, representatives of the Democratic Party may be involved.

At the same time, the American leader did not give an unequivocal answer to the question of whether he would ensure a peaceful transfer of power in the event of his defeat in the elections.

"The balance of power will change"

As Andrei Sidorov, head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, explained in a conversation with RT, the hype in the United States around this appointment arose due to the fact that if Barrett gets the post, the balance of power will shift in favor of the Republicans for many years.  

“If Barrett takes the place of the ninth chief justice, then the balance of power in the Supreme Court will change in favor of the conservative wing for many years.

And this is very important for the Republicans, because the Supreme Court decides questions about the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of laws, the fairness of decisions.

This is the highest court - it is the last one.

Therefore, if the election results are in doubt, it is he who will understand the situation, ”the expert explained.

At the same time, Sidorov believes that the Senate is likely to approve Barrett for the vacant position.  

“After all, the Republicans have an advantage over the Democrats in the Senate, which makes the final decision on the candidacy of Barrett,” the analyst stated.

From his point of view, if Barrett joins the Supreme Court, "it will deprive the Democrats of the opportunity to use the instrument of the courts in challenging the elections, which they were preparing for if Trump wins."

“After all, then, going through all the courts, the Democratic Party will eventually stumble upon the Supreme Court, where Republicans will prevail,” the expert explained.

Malek Dudakov, a political scientist and expert on the United States, in turn, predicts that after Barrett's appointment, the Supreme Court "will make much more decisions in favor of Trump, the Republicans and the conservative concept."

“It is no coincidence that Trump made the decision to appoint Barrett before the election.

Now very quick hearings will be held on this issue, and then, I think, it will be approved.

Trump is in such a hurry because he wants to have the full number of judges in the Supreme Court in case the elections are challenged, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.

  • US primaries

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  • © Bryan Woolston

Dudakov explained that if, according to the results of the voting on November 3, the gap between the candidates is small, then "a long procedure for recount of votes will begin."

“And the Supreme Court in this case will have to make a strong-willed decision - to stop at some point the recount of votes and fix a certain result.

If the majority of the members of the Supreme Court are loyal to Trump, then the likelihood that they will make a decision in his favor will increase many times over, ”the expert noted.

At the same time, at this stage, the Democrats "will try to delay the moment of Barrett's appointment as much as possible," but they do not have effective mechanisms to counter this, the analyst said.

“They will, of course, unleash a public pressure campaign through loyal media.

Demonstrations are not excluded.

But in the end all this will probably boil down to some kind of declarative decisions in the lower house, which will not have legal force, ”concluded Dudakov.