To Win Re-Election, Trump Should Nominate Amy Coney Barrett
Not only is this the right decision on principle, since judicial nominations are the duty of the president, but it is also the right political move.
By Willis L. Krumholz
September 22, 2020
In politics, there is a time to be careful and deliberative and a time to take a calculated risk that offers a high payout. After the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump should nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Already, Senate Republicans are divided over whether Trump should nominate a new justice with just six weeks to go before the election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he would immediately move a Trump nomination forward, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said there should be no nominee before the election.
In a more defensible position, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the confirmation process could begin before the election, but the Senate should not confirm until after the election. Murkowski and Collins are two votes out of the GOP’s 53-seat Senate majority, which has the conservative base upset. National Review’s Andrew McCarthy worries that trying to push a nominee through the Senate in six weeks will enrage Democrats and lose Trump the election.
Much of this misses the point. Congress is still considering another round of deficit-funded bailouts, a government funding bill, and the election is little more than a month away. Approving a nominee is highly unlikely in this short period of time, even if the Senate is extremely motivated.
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https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/22/to-win-re-election-trump-should-nominate-amy-coney-barrett/
