Judge Amy Coney Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, giving President Donald a shot in the arm a week before the presidential election. The US Senate led by the Republicans voted 52-48 to approve the judge, overcoming the unified opposition of Democrats. Justice Barrett took the oath of office at the White House alongside Trump. Only one Republican, Senator Susan Collins, who faces a tough re-election battle in Maine, voted against the president's nominee in Monday evening's vote. The new justice is the third appointed by the Republican president, after Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The federal appeals court judge from Indiana fills the vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon who died last month. She is only 48 and could easily serve more than three decades on the Supreme Court. Her sheer presence on a new 6-3, conservative-liberal bench could transform the law in the US for a generation, affecting abortion and religious rights, LGBTQ protections, and the scope of federal regulatory control over the environment, workplace safety, and consumer protection. And Trump made it plain that he wanted Barrett in place quickly because the high court could decide a crucial case or cases that would affect the outcome of the election between him and former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Already, several challenges to voting rules in key states such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina are pending before the court. Biden called the move rushed and unprecedented. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that by going ahead with the vote so close to the election the Republican majority was "lighting its credibility on fire". — Agencies
