Senate to vote on Supreme Court justice on 26 October

The Senate will vote on whether Amy Coney Barrett should become the newest Supreme Court Justice on 26 October, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced.

That’s on Monday – just over a week before the presidential election (and coincidentally Hillary Clinton’s birthday).

Barrett is Donald Trump’s pick for the court, following the death of liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg last month.

The Senate, which has a Republican majority, is expected to vote yes to the conservative judge taking a seat on the court.

It would alter the ideological balance of the Supreme Court, which decides on some of the most important political and cultural issues in the US, including abortion, healthcare and voting rights.