WASHINGTON, Sept 22 — US President Donald Trump said he may choose his nominee for the US Supreme Court by the end of the week and is considering picking from a list of five women candidates to replace deceased justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the bench, reported Sputnik news agency.
“I would say on Friday or Saturday I will be announcing the pick. Five women are being looked at and vetted very carefully,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
Trump reiterated that he wants to see a vote on his US Supreme Court nominee at the Senate before the November 3 presidential election.
“I’d much rather have a vote before the election and we have plenty of time to do that,” he said.
The US president added that he has already spoken to some of the candidates and plans to hold more meetings soon.
On Friday, US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that the Senate would vote on Trump’s pick to replace Ginsburg regardless of criticism by Democrats that they should not do so because of being in an election year. The Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
Later on Monday, FOX News reported – citing unnamed sources – that Trump met with Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential frontrunner to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat.
Barrett, 48, is a conservative, pro-life Catholic who is a circuit judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago.
— Bernama
