Amy Coney Barrett (ACB) is an American lawyer, jurist, and former academic who now serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Barrett was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. 

On September 26, Trump announced his intention to nominate Barrett to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate voted 52–48 to confirm her nomination, with all Democrats opposed and all but one Republican (Susan Collins) in favor.

A devout Catholic who has seven children, Barrett’s arrival at the Supreme Court has raised concerns about whether her personal views might spill over into her legal judgements, with critics pointing to opinions she has expressed on LGBTQ+ issues, abortion rights, and healthcare. It is not clear from her most recent stint as a judge how she might rule on any issue, although the idea is she will lean with a conservative bias — turning the tide of the Supreme Court 6-3. 

Regardless of her beliefs, the way the entire process happened was controversial. On March 16, 2016, former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland for Associate Justice, to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who had died one month earlier. This vacancy arose during Obama’s final year as president. Hours after Scalia’s death was announced, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would consider any appointment by the sitting president as null and void.

In terms of 2020, Trump promised early Wednesday morning to ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the election. 

“We’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Trump said. “We want all voting to stop.” 

The first statement was premature, and the second did not make sense. Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. 

If these lawsuits go to the Court, Barrett could be the deciding vote in determining who will run the country for the next four years.