US election 2020: Trump picks Judge Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Supreme Court

Trump plans to announce Saturday that she is his choice, according to six people close to the process who asked not to be identified disclosing the decision in advance.

Washington DC: President Donald Trump has selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the favourite candidate of conservatives, to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and will try to force Senate confirmation before Election Day in a move that would significantly alter the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court for years, according to New York Times.

Barret will replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last Friday. The decision is likely to be announced at the White House on Saturday, the international media reported.

The nomination will touch off a bitter Senate fight to get her confirmed as November's White House election looms.

Trump plans to announce Saturday that she is his choice, according to six people close to the process who asked not to be identified disclosing the decision in advance.

“I haven’t said it was her, but she is outstanding,” Trump told reporters who asked about Barrett’s imminent nomination at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington after returning Friday evening from a trip to Florida and Georgia.

Amy Coney Barrett, 48, would be the third justice appointed by this Republican president to the bench, after Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Its nine justices serve lifetime appointments, and their rulings can shape public policy on everything from gun and voting rights to abortion and campaign finance long after the presidents who appoint them leave office.

In recent years, the court has expanded gay marriage to all 50 states, allowed for Trump's travel ban to be put in place, and delayed a US plan to cut carbon emissions while appeals went forward.