Washington: The US Senate confirmed conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett as the Supreme Court’s newest justice Monday, delivering a landmark and controversial win for President Donald Trump just eight days before the election.
The deeply divided chamber voted 52 to 48, largely along party lines in the Republican-controlled Senate, making Barrett the third Trump nominee to reach the high court and cementing a six-to-three conservative majority.
Republican lawmakers broke into applause as the tally was read out, and the White House is also expected to celebrate the confirmation in the final run-up to the November 3 election, in which more than 60 million Americans have already voted.
Trump hailed Barrett’s confirmation as “a momentous day for America.”
“This is a momentous day for America, for the United States Constitution and for the fair and impartial rule of law,” the president, standing alongside Barrett, said before beaming lawmakers and others who had gathered on the South Lawn of the White House.
“I stand here tonight, truly honoured and humbled,” Barrett, a 48-year-old religious conservative, said shortly after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the constitutional oath.
