WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is expected to announce Saturday that he is nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as he aims to put a historic conservative stamp on the high court just weeks before the election. Ever the showman, Trump remained coy about his choice Friday evening as he returned from a campaign swing. When asked whether lawmakers were being told it was Barrett, Trump responded with a nod on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, before replying, “Is that what they’re telling you?”“You’ll find out tomorrow,” he went on to say, flashing a wide smile. Trump had said he was considering five women for Ginsburg's seat, but Barrett was at the White House at least twice this week, including for a Monday meeting with Trump. The staunch conservative’s 2017 appeals court confirmation on a party-line vote included allegations that Democrats were attacking her Catholic faith.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, leaves the Senate Chamber following a vote, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. No court nominee in U.S. history has been considered so close to a presidential election. Elsewhere, as tributes poured in for Ginsburg with vigils and flowers at the court’s steps, Democrats led by presidential nominee Joe Biden vowed a tough fight. Romney, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, dismissed that argument, saying “it was not unfair” for Republicans to refuse to consider Obama’s choice of Merrick Garland. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for opposing a Senate vote before elections.