South Florida Judge Barbara Lagoa On President Trump's Short List Of Supreme Court Picks
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - President Trump has revealed that he will announce his pick for the Supreme Court this Friday or Saturday.
On Monday, Trump confirmed that one of the names on his shortlist is Barbara Lagoa, a Cuban American federal judge from Hialeah.
Lagoa was appointed to the state's 3rd District Court of Appeal by then Gov. Jeb Bush. In 2019, she was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Ron DeSantis, making her the state's first Cuban-American female justice.
In less than a year, Lagoa was picked by Trump to serve on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Now some of Florida's top GOP politicians, including Sen. Rick Scott, DeSantis, and state Rep. Matt Gaetz are urging the president to promote her again.
Sen. Marco Rubio said in a prepared statement Monday that Trump, who is running for re-election in November, should "exercise his duty to name a nominee. And the Senate should once again exercise its constitutional obligation and decide whether or not to consent to his choice."
Rubio added, "I will review the record of President Trump's nominee, and I will provide my consent if I find they are qualified and will respect the law as written. If I conclude they do not meet this standard, as I did in 2016, I will withhold consent. And unlike President Obama in 2016, President Trump is on the ballot and can be rewarded or held accountable for his choice in November."
Though she's not a lock, Lagoa made the short list because of her background in the battle ground state, according to Politico.
Her pick would resonate in Miami-Dade County, where Trump needs to keep Democratic nominee Joe Biden from running up the score in the Democratic-rich urban area, according to Gary Fineout with Politico.
Lagoa's nomination would bring Democratic opposition.
She voted with the majority that upheld Florida's felon voting rights law which requires former felons to pay off their court debts before they can vote.
Sen. Kamala Harris was among those who criticized Lagoa for not recusing herself from the case because she served on the state Supreme Court when it considered another case on Amendment 4, the measure that ended Florida's lifetime voting ban for most felons, according to Politico.
