⁍ U.S. law requires justices to step aside when there is a conflict of interest or genuine question of bias.

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⁍ It leaves the individual justice to decide whether such a conflict exists.

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⁍ If confirmed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, Amy Barrett would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority.

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– Democrats are raising a ruckus over President Trump’s suggestion that the Supreme Court will rule in his favor when it comes to the November election. “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court, and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices,” Trump told reporters Wednesday, adding that he wanted to get the court to nine before the election. “I think it’s very important that we have nine justices,” he said, though Reuters notes that federal law requires justices to step aside when there is a conflict of interest, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. “If she does not recuse herself, I fear that the court will be further de-legitimized,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker tells NBC’s Meet the Press. Republican Sen. Mike Lee tells ABC’s This Week that recusal would be up to Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The New York University School of Law’s legal ethics expert tells Reuters that should a big election issue come before the court, Joe Biden could be justified in filing a motion asking her to recuse herself. He notes that in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided the election in favor of Republican Bush, none of the justices were appointed by either candidate, although Democratic candidate Al Gore was vice president to President Bill Clinton, who appointed both Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer. This time, there would be three justices on the bench appointed by Trump himself.