Listen to this article

US President Donald Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court has been described as a danger by the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She said it threatens the destruction of health care protections for at least 135 million Americans provided by the Affordable Care Act. Pelosi issued a statement just after the president nominated (a conservative federal judge and professor at Notre Dame Law school) Judge Amy Coney Barrett. She narrowed in on the president’s attempts to repeal the landmark healthcare legislation passed by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. Pelosi said, “For four years, President Trump has tried to crush the Affordable Care Act in the Congress and the Courts. This nomination threatens the destruction of life-saving protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions together with every other benefit and protection of the Affordable Care Act”.Supreme Court

The House Speaker added, “If this nominee is confirmed, millions of families’ health care will be ripped away in the middle of a pandemic that has infected seven million Americans and killed over 200,000 people in our country”. Her comments came after the vast majority of the Republican-led Senate has already vowed to push through a Supreme Court nomination just weeks before the presidential election, in spite of Republicans refusing to hold a confirmation process for Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in 2016, Judge Merrick Garland. They are insisting voters should decide the next president before a new justice can be appointed to the nation’s highest court. Republicans appear to have the votes required to nominate Trump’s replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away earlier this week due to metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87-years of age. New appointed Judge Barrett is 48-years old and she would likely serve on the Supreme Court for several decades. Justices hold a lifetime position to allow President Trump to potentially reshape the balance of the court for generations to come. Democrats have largely responded to the president’s nomination of judge Barrett by focusing on health care, and the president’s years-long attack against the Affordable Care Act. Chuck Schumer said, “The American people should make no mistake, a vote by any Senator for Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a vote to strike down the Affordable Care Act and eliminate protections for millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions”.