Trump says Senate will ‘easily’ confirm Barrett before election

US President Donald Trump and Judge Amy Coney Barrett walk to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 26, 2020. Trump nominated Barrett to the US Supreme Court. Olivier DOULIERY / AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Sunday the Senate will “easily” confirm his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett before the election, despite furious Democratic opposition to his bid to steer the court rightward for years to come.

Trump has nominated Barrett, a darling of conservatives for her religious views, to replace the late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a lifetime seat on the top court, potentially impacting some of the most partisan issues in America, from abortion to gun rights to health care.

His decision to push her nomination through just weeks before the tense and potentially disputed November 3 election, in which polls show he is the underdog, has galvanized Democrats, who are calling for the decision to be made by the winner of the vote.

His election rival, Democrat Joe Biden, has led the charge.

“The Senate should not act on this vacancy until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress,” Biden said Saturday, just moments after Trump announced Barrett’s nomination.

But Trump expressed confidence Sunday in an interview with “Fox & Friends.”

“I think we’re going to have it done easily before the election,” he said.

“I think it would be nice to do. Get it out of the way,” he continued, adding: “We have plenty of time.”

Barring a huge surprise, Republican senators, who have 53 out of 100 votes in the upper house of Congress, are expected to confirm Barrett.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has already announced that a vote will be held “this year.”