WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President Donald Trump is expected to choose Amy Coney Barrett Saturday as his nominee for the Supreme Court.

Trump’s formal announcement about his nominee will take place during an evening news conference.

Conservative groups and congressional allies are laying the groundwork for a swift confirmation process for Barrett, even before Trump makes the selection official in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Barrett would replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. Ginsburg died last Friday from complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. She was 87.

The likely shift in the court’s makeup — from Ginsburg, a liberal icon, to an outspoken conservative — would be the sharpest ideological swing since Clarence Thomas replaced Justice Thurgood Marshall nearly three decades ago.

Senate Republicans are readying for confirmation hearings in two weeks, with a vote in the full chamber now expected before Election Day. 

Who is Amy Coney Barrett?

Barrett was confirmed as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in October 2017.  

2010-2016: Barrett served by appointment of the Chief Justice on the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.  

Judge Barrett earned her B.A. in English literature, magna cum laude, from Rhodes College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame, where she was a Kiley Fellow, earned the Hoynes Prize, the Law School’s highest honor, and served as executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.   

Before joining the Notre Dame faculty, Judge Barrett clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Like Scalia, for whom she once clerked, she is a committed Catholic as well as a firm devotee of his favored interpretation of the Constitution known as originalism. Those qualifications delight many on the right but dismay liberals and others who fear her votes could result in chipping away of some laws, especially the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Liberals say they fear Barrett’s religious views coupled with her devotion to a Scalia-favored interpretation of the Constitution known as originalism could result in a constant chipping away of Roe and other landmark abortion cases.

Her legal writings and speeches show a commitment to “originalism,” a concept that involves justices endeavoring to decipher original meanings of texts in assessing whether someone’s rights have been violated. Many liberals say that approach is too rigid and doesn’t allow the Constitution’s consequences to adjust to vastly changing times.

On abortion, questions have arisen about Barrett’s involvement in organizations that vigorously oppose it. But she has not said publicly she would, if given the chance, seek to scale back rights affirmed by the high court.

As an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts. 

Barrett and her husband are the parents of seven children: Emma, Vivian, Tess, John Peter, Liam, Juliet, and Benjamin. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.