President Trump on Wednesday predicted the U.S. Supreme Court may decide the outcome of the November election, highlighting the importance of filling the ninth seat formerly held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In order to prevent a four-four split on a potential election-related issue, Trump suggested during a roundtable event that lawmakers should take swift action on his candidate, who is expected to be revealed on Saturday.
“I think this will end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump told reports. “And I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.”
The president has voiced concerns about the mail-in voting process, which he has repeatedly claimed could lead to voter fraud.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was appointed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by Trump in 2017, is a likely a frontrunner for the vacant seat.
House Republicans wrote a letter to the president on Wednesday, pushing him to nominate Barrett.
Another top contender is Barbara Lagoa, a Cuban-American who serves on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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The president has said he would nominate a woman and is reportedly considering five people, all of whom he classified as “brilliant” on Wednesday.
Trump has already appointed conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch during his term.
Ginsburg died on Friday at the age of 87 of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Ginsburg was appointed to the high court in 1993, after being nominated by former President Bill Clinton.