President Donald Trump said Monday that he would announce a replacement for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by either Friday or Saturday, including a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.
During a morning interview on “Fox and Friends,” the president said the administration wanted to pay its respects to Ginsburg, who died Friday night from complications with cancer, before announcing a nominee later this week.
Ginsburg, 87, was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and praised as a champion for women’s rights. The Supreme Court announced that Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday and will lie at the Capitol on Friday.
Trump said he has narrowed his pick to five women. That shortlist includes Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, Judge Barbara Lagoa a Florida-based judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit, Judge Allison Jones Rushing of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond and Kate Todd, a deputy White House counsel.
The president did not disclose his other picks outside the five women during Monday’s interview. He did also refer to “a great one from Michigan,” and the Detroit News said his reference was to Michigan federal appeals judge Joan Larsen.
“They’re all very smart,” Trump said.
Atlanta-based U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Britt Grant, 42, is the youngest of the women judges considered to replace Ginsburg. She appeared on earlier lists of potential Supreme Court nominees.
She shares a close friendship with Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Kavanaugh conducted her 2018 swearing-in when he praised her as a “fair and even-handed” judge. Grant said then that she would “strive to live up to Judge Kavanaugh’s example of integrity, stability and commitment to the rule of law.” The U.S. Senate confirmed Grant 52-46.
She is a former Georgia Supreme Court justice, appointed by former Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016.
She has served as president of the Atlanta chapter of the conservative Federalist Society and has won high marks from the Heritage Foundation. During her 2018 confirmation she said she considers Roe V Wade settled law that she’d be bound to support as U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Keith Blackwell also made Trump’s list of potential nominees updated earlier this month. Blackwell, who has served as a justice since 2012, cited family obligations and plans to resume practice as a private attorney as his reasons for leaving the bench.
The president nominated Barrett for the 7th Circuit, which runs jurisdiction in Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois, in 2017. Her anti-abortion views have made her a favorite among conservatives.
She also clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after she graduated from Notre Dame University Law School.
Rushing was also nominated by Trump in 2018 to serve in the 4th Circuit, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia. She also clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas and was a partner at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C.
But Lagoa, who has strong ties to Florida — a key battleground state for the president and his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Bidden — is also a top contender.
The 11th circuit runs jurisdiction in Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
“She’s excellent,” Trump said. “She’s Hispanic.”
Lagoa is the daughter of Cuban immigrants and was born in Miami, where Trump and Biden are vying for Latino support.
In early September, Biden visited Kissimmee, Fla., to unveil a plan to support Puerto Rico, which is still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria from three years ago that left more than 3,000 Americans dead. After Hurricane Maria, thousands of Puerto Ricans settled in Florida, including Kissimmee and Orlando, which are areas with a high Puerto Rican population.
Similarly Trump announced a nearly $13 billion plan last week to help rebuild the island’s power grid that was damaged during the storm, leaving Americans without electricity for weeks.
The president acknowledged that Lagoa’s ties to Florida could help him in his re-election campaign.
“Florida, we love Florida,” he said.
The president said the Senate would have “plenty of time,” to confirm his nominee to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court before November’s presidential election.
While Senate Democrats have vocalized their opposition to filling the Supreme Court vacancy with 42 days till the presidential election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement on Friday that the Senate would move to vote on a nominee from the president. McConnell refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland, President Obama’s last nominee for the Supreme Court in 2016, arguing that the nomination should not be filled in a presidential election year.
This article appears in partnership with Georgia Recorder
