Trump to make court pick by Saturday, Ginsburg services set

By JONATHAN LEMIRE, LISA MASCARO and ALEXANDRA JAFFE

 WASHINGTONP) (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he expects to announce his pick for the Supreme Court on Friday or Saturday, after funeral services for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and just days before the first presidential election debate.

Ginsburg’s casket will be on public view Wednesday and Thursday at the iconic steps outside the court building to allow for public mourning during the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, Ginsburg will lie in state in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall in a ceremony open only to invited guests, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

The court said Ginsburg will be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery in a private service.

Trump told “Fox & Friends” that he had a list of five finalists, “probably four,” and that he is pushing for a confirmation vote before Election Day. Democrats vigorously oppose that, pointing to the hypocrisy of Republicans for rushing through a pick so close to the election after refusing to do so months earlier for President Barack Obama in 2016.

Dismissing that argument, Trump said of a rapid nomination and confirmation, “I think that would be good for the Republican Party, and I think it would be good for everybody to get it over with.”