Trump has accepted an invitation to return to the dinner for the first time in four years. Organizers said they anticipate his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, will attend as well.

To argue that a person’s religious beliefs are not or should not be influential in how they approach judicial questions shows an ignorance of history and politics.

“Asylum on the border is pretty much impossible,” a legal advocate with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said. “Covid is being used as an excuse to close the border.”

The president described Barrett as “one of the nation’s most gifted legal minds” to the court and praised her for her loyalty to the Constitution.

Republicans were expecting President Donald Trump to announce Saturday that he is nominating Judge Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

This nomination battle will be as contentious as any in history because it is the final payoff of the gamble large parts of the pro-life movement made in supporting Mr. Trump.