Barrett Says Trump Offered Her SCOTUS Nomination 3 Days After Ginsburg’s Death

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, looks on during a meeting with Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), on Capitol Hill, in Washington on Sept. 29, 2020. Shawn Thew/Pool via Reuters

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett said she was offered the nomination just three days after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and nearly a full week before President Donald Trump announced his choice to fill the vacant seat.

White House officials called Judge Barrett on Sept. 19, the day after Ginsburg died at age 87, Barrett said in a Senate questionnaire released by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The following day, Barrett spoke again with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Pat Cipollone, counsel to the president. They invited her to Washington and Trump later called to confirm the invitation.

On Sept. 21, Barrett had meetings with Trump, Cipollone, Meadows, and Vice President Pence.

“The President offered me the nomination on that day, and I accepted, subject to finalizing the vetting process,” Barrett said.

Trump told reporters on Sept. 21 outside the White House that he had not made a decision on who to pick for his next Supreme Court nominee.

Seventh U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, second from left, President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, is escorted to the Senate by Vice President Mike Pence, second from right, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, right, and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, left, as she begins a series of meetings to prepare for her confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 29, 2020. Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images

“Five women are being looked at and vetted very carefully. Five. And we’ll make a decision probably Saturday, but Friday or Saturday,” Trump said.

“I’m getting very close to having a final decision made. Very close,” the president added the next day.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Trump announced Barrett as his nominee on Sept. 26 and officially sent her nomination to this Senate on Tuesday.

“She is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials, and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution,” he said.

Barrett said her judicial philosophy is the same as late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she clerked.

“His judicial philosophy is mine too: A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold,” she said.

The judge also took time to honor Ginsburg, who she said “won the admiration of women across the country and, indeed, all over the world.”