President Trump announced on Saturday that Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. The president called Judge Barrett one of the “most brilliant and gifted legal minds.”
While the Senate prepares to move forward with Judge Barrett’s nomination, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) painted Judge Barrett as a threat to healthcare and the rights of women:
“If this nominee is confirmed, millions of families’ health care will be ripped away in the middle of a pandemic that has infected seven million Americans and killed over 200,000 people in our country. Everything hangs in the balance with this nomination: a woman’s constitutional right to make her own medical decisions about her own body, the right of LGBTQ Americans to marry who they love, the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain for fair wages, the future of our planet and environmental protections, voting rights and the right of every American to have a voice in our democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Trump is exploiting this vacancy against the clear and overwhelming will of the American people, as he dismantles the pillars of health and economic security in America. Every vote to confirm this nominee is a vote to dismantle health care. The American people will hold every Senator responsible for their vote at the ballot box.”
Speaker Pelosi has no role in Judge Barrett’s confirmation. The Senate plans to move forward on Judge Barrett's nomination in the coming weeks. At the moment, Leader McConnell has the votes to move forward on the president's nomination.