Pence’s chief of staff says President Trump has narrowed Supreme Court nomination list

 

FILE – In this March 22, 2018, file photo, then-White House Director of Legislative Affairs and Assistant Marc Short speaks in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

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UPDATED 11:35 AM PT – Sunday, September 20, 2020

Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff has said he expects a Supreme Court nomination will come very soon. On Sunday, Marc Short highlighted the history of Supreme Court nominations.

He believes the President will honor his obligation to the American people and nominate someone soon.

According to Short, President Trump has interviewed plenty of candidates for the position and recently narrowed his list for the position down to a handful of names.

“The President is going to stick with his obligation to do that,” stated Short. “He looks forward to making a nominee that, I think, the American people will be proud of.”

The chief of staff went on to say it is the obligation of the Senate to approve the nomination in whatever timeline they believe in.

Historically, he added the party in power has gone on to confirm the nominees and fulfill their obligation to the American people.

Woman suspected of sending ricin to White House arrested near Canada border

An arrest was made in the investigation into an envelope addressed to the White House that was intercepted Saturday and deemed “suspicious,” the FBI said in a statement on Sunday.

The Associated Press, citing three law enforcement officials, reported that a woman has been arrested on the New York-Canada border. She is suspected of sending an envelope with poison ricin.

The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo and is expected to face federal charges, the officials said. Her name was not immediately released.

The individual who was arrested is believed to be the person who sent the letter, according to the FBI Washington field office.

According to Mayo Clinic, Ricin is poisonous and can be produced from the waste that results from processing castor beans. There is no vaccine or antidote for the poison.

A Navy veteran was arrested in 2018 and confessed to sending envelopes to Trump and members of his administration that contained the substance from which ricin is derived.

Fox News' Sam Dorman and the Associated Press contributed to this report

 

Pelosi confuses some during interview on SCOTUS fight

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

 ouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi left some viewers scratching their heads after what seemed like a brief communication issue during a Sunday morning news show.

During an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Pelosi, D-Calif., was asked whether she and House Democrats would move to impeach President Trump in an effort to stop his U.S. Supreme Court pick from being confirmed to the bench -- following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now, but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country,” Pelosi said. “This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election.”

When asked for clarification by host George Stephanopoulos on whether she would take any arrows out of her quiver or rule anything out, her answer seemed disjointed.

"Good morning, Sunday morning," she said while laughing.

Users on social media reacted to her apparent flub, with some wishing they could use that response to get out of an argument or harsh questioning.

"LIFEHACK: If you are in the middle of a harsh questioning and don’t know an answer just respond with “good morning.” It will confuse all parties involved to the point where they just move on. Works every time," one user wrote.

After her response and a short pause, Pelosi added: "We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people.”

“When we weigh the equities of protecting our democracy, it requires us to use every arrow in our quiver," she continued.

Just hours after it was announced that Ginsburg had passed away on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., vowed that a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court to fill her vacancy “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

According to NPR, Ginsburg's last wish was to not be replaced until a new president was sworn into office.

"My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," Ginsburg told her granddaughter just days before her death, the media organization reported.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report

US Rep. Jahana Hayes says she tested positive for COVID-19

Jahana Hayes addresses delegates during the Democratic convention for the 5th District in Waterbury, Conn on May 14, 2018. (Jim Shannon/Republican-American via AP, File)

 

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Democrat from Connecticut, announced on Sunday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

"This morning I received a positive COVID-19 test result and will be quarantined for the 14 days," Hayes wrote on Twitter. "After going to 2 urgent care centers yesterday, I finally got an appointment at a 3rd site and was tested this morning."

The first-term Democratic congresswoman represents much of western Connecticut, which includes Danbury, Meriden, New Britain and part of Waterbury.

Hayes added that she was asymptomatic, except for breathing issues "which are being monitored." Her announcement came after she was notified on Saturday that one of her staffers had tested positive for COVID-19.

"I have been in close contact with the staffer and I have worked in both my CT and D.C. offices over the last week,” Hayes said in a statement. “All of my staff has been notified and directed to quarantine and get tested.”

At least 17 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have either tested positive or are presumed to have had COVID-19, according to Reuters. They included nine Republicans and seven Democrats.

Hayes added that members of Congress do not get tested regularly.

Jahana Hayes addresses delegates during the Democratic convention for the 5th District in Waterbury, Conn on May 14, 2018. (Jim Shannon/Republican-American via AP, File)

"In fact we are not mass tested at all in DC. Masks, social distancing & frequent floor cleanings are the precautions that are taken in the House," she wrote on Twitter Saturday. "I have taken every possible precaution and still contracted coronavirus."

She said that her experience "underscore" the need for a national testing strategy with a "coherent way to receive speedy, accurate results."

"Please keep my family and my staff in your prayers," she added.

 

If the crowd at President Trump’s Saturday rally in North Carolina was any indicator, the president's supporters have already decided what he should do about the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Fill that seat!” the crowd chanted as the president spoke at Fayetteville Regional Airport about who he might nominate to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the nation's highest court. Ginsburg died Friday at age 87 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

"It will be a woman -- a very talented, very brilliant woman," Trump told the crowd of his potential choice. "I think it should be a woman. I actually like women much more than I like men.”

Ginsburg’s death has set up a fierce battle between Republicans and Democrats, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating the Senate will vote on an appointee named by Trump, even if the president names his pick before the Nov. 3 election, and Democrats saying a vacancy opening so close to the election should be filled by the winner -- whether Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump appears at a campaign rally at Fayetteville Regional Airport in Fayetteville, N.C., Sept. 19, 2020. (Associated Press)

McConnell has faced criticism for taking the opposite stance just four years ago, after Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016. Back then, McConnell chose instead to deny former President Barack Obama a Senate confirmation hearing on his high-court choice, Merrick Garland, with the 2016 election between Trump and Hillary Clinton just months away.

As a result, Obama's choice was never confirmed and Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court soon after taking office in 2017.

In Fayetteville on Saturday, Trump defended his constitutional right as president to put forth a nominee.

"It says the president, we're supposed to fill the seat. That's what we're going to do,” Trump told the crowd.

President Donald Trump addresses a crowd at Fayetteville Regional Airport in Fayetteville, N.C., Sept. 19, 2020. (Associated Press)

He later told reporters his announcement could come as early as this week.

Biden, however, expressed a different view Friday.

“Voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice to consider," the Democrat said.

The election is just over 40 days away -- a difficult timeline to appoint and confirm a justice to the country's highest court -- but the Senate could still confirm a nominee.

Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky home targeted in Supreme Court vacancy protest

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks after meeting with Senate Republicans, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press)

 

At least one protester was arrested Saturday after a group of about 100 people gathered outside the Kentucky home of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell.

The Senate majority leader is a key figure in determining whether a nominee appointed by President Trump will succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court before Election Day.

“Ruth Sent Us,” and “No Ethics No Shame,” read some of the signs carried by crowd members in Louisville, local FOX station WDRB-TV reported.

“Hey-hey, ho-ho, Mitch McConnell has got to go,” others chanted.

Reports were unclear on whether McConnell was at home in Kentucky or in Washington on Saturday.

In addition to the impending battle over the court vacancy, McConnell, 78 – a member of the Senate since 1985 -- also faces a reelection fight on Kentucky’s November ballot.

One protester was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and improper parking, after police determined she used a pharmacy parking lot without planning to patronize the store, the Courier Journal of Louisville reported.

After facing the towing of her vehicle, the woman went inside the store and bought a six-pack of beer but police arrested her anyway, the report said.

The arrest prompted other protesters to start chanting, and one member of the crowd kicked a glass door and damaged it, the newspaper reported.

Other protesters agreed to move vehicles that were blocking traffic on a nearby street, following a police request.

Any Supreme Court nominee selected by Trump must win confirmation from the GOP-led Senate before joining the court on a lifetime appointment. The process includes confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

As Senate leader, McConnell would determine when or if a vote on a nomination would be held. Democrats and some Republicans have argued that any vote on a Trump court pick should be delayed until after the Nov. 3 presidential election.

But McConnell has faced criticism for his 2016 decision to deny former President Barack Obama a Senate vote on his high-court choice, Merrick Garland, with the 2016 election between Trump and Hillary Clinton just months away.

In his Senate race, McConnell is seeking a seventh term. He is facing Democrat Amy McGrath, a former U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot.

A new Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed McConnell with a double-digit lead over McGrath, the Courier Journal reported.

Trump's Supreme Court court pick likely to be Amy Coney Barrett or Barbara Lagoa: reports

Judge Barbara Lagoa, center, speaks as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lt. Gov Jeanette Nunez, left, look on, Jan. 9, 2019, in Miami. (Associated Press)

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is seen in a 2017 photo. (University of Notre Dame Law School via The Associated Press)

Two names have been emerging from the list of Supreme Court contenders President Trump is said to be considering following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to reports.

Judges Amy Coney Barrett in Chicago and Barbara Lagoa in Atlanta are said to top the list.

Trump told a North Carolina rally crowd Saturday night that he intended to nominate a woman to succeed Ginsburg, who died Friday at age 87 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

"It will be a woman -- a very talented, very brilliant woman," Trump said of his potential choice. "I think it should be a woman. I actually like women much more than I like men.”

"It will be a woman -- a very talented, very brilliant woman. I think it should be a woman."

— President Trump

Barrett, 48, a judge with the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, is a conservative, pro-life Roman Catholic who clerked for late Justice Antonin Scalia after she graduated from law school.

The New Orleans native was appointed by Trump to the Seventh Circuit in 2017. She taught law at the University of Notre Dame for 15 years but had no other judicial background, according to the Washington Post.

She believes in originalism, the idea that judges should interpret the Constitution as the Founding Fathers intended.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is seen in a 2017 photo. (University of Notre Dame Law School via The Associated Press)

During her confirmation hearing to the Seventh Circuit, she said she wouldn’t let her personal religious beliefs affect her judicial decisions and would consider rulings like Roe. V Wade binding precedent, although experts have said she would likely support overturning it, the newspaper reported.

Lagoa, 52, on the other hand, has an extensive judicial background.

The Miami native was nominated in 2006 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush to Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeals, where she served for more than a decade before being elevated briefly to the state’s Supreme Court. Last year, Trump nominated her to the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and she was easily confirmed, according to USA Today.

Lagoa is a member of the conservative Federalist Society and is backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis but some have questioned her conservative credentials, especially on abortion, according to Politico.

She’s also a Roman Catholic and of Cuban descent, which could help Trump in November.

Trump says Supreme Court pick will ‘most likely’ be a woman, announcement could come ‘next week’

 

President Trump said his nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be a woman.

"It will be a woman. A very talented, very brilliant woman." Trump said. "I think it should be a woman. I actually like women much more than I like men."

The commander-in-chief opened his rally in Fayetteville, N.C., by paying tribute to the late justice, saying "you may disagree with her, but she was a tremendous inspiration to a number of people, I say all Americans."

Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One to North Carolina that his pick would likely be announced next week.

Trump said the current situation is different than in February 2016 when a seat was vacated by late Justice Antonin Scalia. “That’s called the consequences of losing an election,” the president said.

He noted her close relationship with late Justice Antonin Scalia, which he called a "powerful reminder we can disagree on fundamental issues while treating each other with decency and respect."

Trump also asserted his right to nominate a new justice before the election. "Article II of the Constitution says the president shall nominate justices of the Supreme Court. I don't think it can be any more clear, can it?"

A chant broke out among the crowd multiple times throughout the night: "Fill that seat, fill that seat."

"It says the president, we're supposed to fill the seat. That's what we're going to do."

Trump also told the crowd he would now consider his rallies protests. "This isn't a rally. From now on it's called a protest," he said. "Protest against stupidity."

Trump said that a Supreme Court seat was vacated during an election year or prior to inauguration 29 times throughout history. "Every sitting president made a nomination," he said.

President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the seat, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in 2016 used his caucus’ numbers to hold the seat open until after the election.

Of Sen. Susan Collins’ statement that the nominee should be voted on after the election, Trump said before the rally, “I totally disagree.” “We have an obligation, we won,” he said. “We're here now. Right now we're here and we have an obligation to the voters.”

When addressing the crowd he brought up Collins again. "Nobody ever said 'oh, let's not fill the seat. I won't say it. Susan, I won't say it... Susan."

Trump turned to his opponent Joe Biden. He said that Democrats were "trying to delay" coronavirus vaccine approval to "give sleepy Joe the credit."

"If we had listened to Joe Biden [on coronavirus] hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died," he said.

Ginsburg, 87, died Friday from complications surrounding metastatic cancer of the pancreas.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump said Republicans should fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg "without delay."

“@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,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning.

“We have this obligation, without delay!” he added.

The president’s statement comes after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., just hours after Ginsburg’s passing, vowed that a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

“The Senate and the nation mourn the sudden passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the conclusion of her extraordinary American life,” McConnell said in a statement.

“In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise,” McConnell continued. “Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year.”

McConnell added that, “by contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary.”

“Once again, we will keep our promise,” he said. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

But the nomination and confirmation process for the latest addition to the Supreme Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, took 89 days total for confirmation. It took 57 days from Kavanaugh's nomination to his confirmation hearing.

There are 44 days until Election Day.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.