The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021

by Peter Baker

But the timing was unprecedented, another busted norm in a presidency full of them. Trump wanted Barrett confirmed just days before the election, after millions of Americans would have already cast early ballots. There would barely be time for hearings or even the pretense of a process in the Senate, where McConnell obligingly arranged a lightning-fast confirmation only four years after denying Obama’s final Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing because the nomination came eight months before the 2016 presidential election. Trump would eventually be extraordinarily blunt in admitting that he wanted to push Barrett’s nomination through so close to November 3 to ensure his own victory. “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump said of the election, “and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices,” rather than risk a four-to-four tie. Trump appeared to believe that, with three of his appointees on the bench, they would surely swing the outcome his way if necessary.