President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday that he believes he’ll pick a Supreme Court nominee next week, and that it will “most likely” be a woman.
“We want to respect the process. I think it’s going to go very quickly, actually,” Trump said just before departing to North Carolina for a campaign rally. He did not specify exactly when next week he will announce the nominee.
Trump and Republican leadership have both said they intend to select and vote on a Trump nominee immediately.
Though at least one Republican senator — Susan Collins of Maine — has expressed misgivings over voting on a Supreme Court nominee before the election, Trump vowed Saturday to press ahead with the process.
“I totally disagree with her — we have an obligation. We won. And we have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want,” Trump said in response to Collins’ remarks.
.@GOP We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices. We have this obligation, without delay!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2020
He is considering Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and former Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Lagoa, now a federal appeals court judge who is Cuban American. Barrett is considered the leading contender because of her conservative credentials, Trump’s interest in picking a woman and the fact that she’s already been interviewed, according to five people familiar with the White House process.