BARBARA LAGOA

"He's readying himself for a national run, if it's in 2024 or later. And he's a very dangerous individual," historian Ruth Ben Ghiat said of DeSantis.

A set of changes to voting practices in Florida, called "racist" by a lower court judge, can take effect after all, an appeals court rules.

President Donald Trumps deep imprint on the federal courts is a rare point of agreement about the president across the political spectrum. The three Supreme Court picks could still be on the court at the 21st century’s midpoint, 30 years from now. In Trump’s first two years, they pushed through 30 appellate court judges and 53 district court nominees. “You know, when I got in, we had over 100 federal judges that weren’t appointed," he said. That nominee was Stephen Breyer, now a Supreme Court justice.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, leaves the Senate Chamber following a vote, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. But under GOP planning, the Senate could vote Oct. 29. No court nominee in U.S. history has been considered so close to a presidential election. Elsewhere, as tributes poured in for Ginsburg with vigils and flowers at the court’s steps, Democrats led by presidential nominee Joe Biden vowed a tough fight. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for opposing a Senate vote before elections.

Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, is shown in this official undated photo released by the Florida Supreme Court. So she’s got a lot of things — very smart,” Trump said in a call-in interview with “Fox and Friends.”Asked whether politics would play a role in the decision, Trump responded: “I try not to say so. At 52, Lagoa would become the youngest member of the U.S. Supreme Court if nominated and confirmed. Before that, for less than a year she was a justice on the Florida Supreme Court after more than a decade on a Miami-based state appeals court where she wrote some 360 opinions. She was the first woman of Hispanic heritage on the state Supreme Court.

Up until now, the race has been largely a referendum on how Trump has managed or mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversations in the White House and McConnell’s office have been increasingly focused on Barrett and Lagoa, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private deliberations. An appellate court judge, Barrett was a strong contender for the seat that eventually went to Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Trump said he is planning to name his pick by Friday or Saturday, ahead of the first presidential election debate. He gave a nod to another election battleground state, Michigan, and White House officials confirmed he was referring to Joan Larsen, a federal appeals court judge there.