ATLANTA — On the day President Donald Trump officially nominated Amy Coney Barrett to be the next United States Supreme Court Justice, reactions in Atlanta were varied.
"I think Amy Coney Barrett seems like a very qualified jurist. I'm no expert on the Supreme Court, but she seems like an intelligent person," said Allison O'Neil.
"I'm not really a fan of it. I don't think he should've made a nomination at all," said Jeff Pruitt.
"This is an unprecedented confirmation hearing. The fact that this is happening so close to an election is in and of itself notable," said Emory political science professor Andra Gillespie.
She says when it comes to votes in the Senate, she doesn't expect any surprises.
"I expect that the vast majority of Republicans will support her and that's going to be enough that Vice President Pence doesn't have to come in and be a tie breaking vote and that Democrats are going to overwhelmingly oppose her on party lines," said Gillespie.
So now that Barrett is nominated, what happens next? Attorney Bret Williams says the overall process is pretty simple.
"The president nominates, puts someone forward, then it's the job of the Senate to vote on that individual, confirm or deny them by a simple majority," said Williams.
But with less than six weeks to go before the General election, is there even time to finish the process before the election? Williams says while it has taken months in the past, it could be much faster.
"As far as what the law says about a time frame, the constitution doesn't speak to that issue," said Williams.
The next step is the Senate Judiciary Committee and confirmation hearings.
"And senators will get a chance to ask Judge Barrett questions about her rulings and philosophy," said Gillespie.
Gillespie says that could happen in the next few weeks.
"We are all but assured that Judge Barrett is going to get a confirmation hearing in the next two weeks or so. The big question is when does Mitch McConnell schedule that final floor vote," said Gillespie.
"Another big question is, will there be any big surprising news that comes out about Judge Barrett between now and then. I wouldn't expect to see something along the level of what happened to Brett Kavanaugh, but if it did it would elongate the process," said Gillespie.
It's an historic nomination, at a critical time.
"Right now with Covid and police protests and the election process this just adds to this being an extraordinary time," said Gillespie.