US President Donald Trump on Saturday officially nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, The Hill reports.

It was widely reported on Friday night that Barrett was Trump's choice for the vacancy, taking some of the drama out of the president's formal announcement.

“Today it is my honor to nominate one of our nation’s most brilliant and gifted legal minds to the Supreme Court,” Trump said in front of a crowd of dozens of administration officials, GOP lawmakers and White House allies at a ceremony at the Rose Garden.

“She is a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials and unyielding loyalty to the constitution,” he added.

The confirmation process at the Senate is scheduled to start on October 12.

Barrett, 48, a Trump-appointed federal appeals court judge and former professor at Notre Dame Law School, was viewed as an immediate favorite to replace Ginsburg, having already gone through the vetting process in 2018 when Trump ultimately nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Trump previously told allies that he was “saving” Barrett as a nominee to replace Ginsburg, Axios reported in 2019.

Barrett was joined during Saturday's ceremony by her husband and seven children. She delivered prepared remarks in which she paid respect to Ginsburg.

“Justice Ginsburg began her career at a time when women were not welcome in the legal profession,” Barrett said. “But she not only broke glass ceilings, she shattered them. For that, she has won the admiration of women across the country and indeed all over the world.”

Much of the focus of her speech was on her family and her mentor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Barrett pledged to model her judicial approach after that of Scalia, whose emphasis on the meaning of legal text – often at the exclusion of policy or other considerations — is now a pillar of conservative jurisprudence.

“Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold,” Barrett said, noting that Scalia had an “incalculable influence on my life.”