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Justice Amy Coney Barrett speaks after President Donald Trump announced his nomination as his choice for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. PHOTO: Getty Images
- Judge Amy Coney Barrett is expected to become the ninth highest court judge in the US.
- Democrats failed to derail the contentious process in a deeply divided Senate
- Democrats have warned that Barrett could vote to gut Obamacare and perhaps overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision protecting abortion rights.
Despite falling behind in the polls just a week from Election Day, US President Donald Trump is likely to celebrate a monumental victory for the conservative cause on Monday: his third nominee confirmed in the US Supreme Court. .
Appellate Judge Amy Coney Barrett is set to become the ninth judge on the nation’s highest court, after Democrats failed to derail the contentious process in a deeply divided Senate.
In a rare Sunday session, the Republican Senate majority overcame an obstructionist from Democrats, and Barrett’s nomination cleared a procedural hurdle, 51-48, to set up a confirmation vote Monday night.
“By tomorrow night, we will have a new member of the Supreme Court of the United States,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the camera.
“The other side won’t be able to do much about it for a long time.”
Barrett’s promotion to the seat left vacant after the Sept. 18 death of liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg would basically secure a 6 to 3 conservative majority on the high court.
Democrats have warned that Barrett, 48, could vote to gut Obamacare, which has helped millions of Americans get health insurance, and perhaps overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision protecting abortion rights. .
They have been steaming about the process. Senate Republicans blocked Barack Obama’s election to the Supreme Court in March 2016, arguing that it was too close to an election that’s eight months away.
But when Trump nominated Barrett 38 days before the 2020 election, Republicans accepted the move.
Senate Top Democrat Chuck Schumer on Sunday called the flood of confirmations “blatant hypocrisy” that would leave “an inescapable stain on this Republican majority.”
Two other Trump nominees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, are already on the floor after bitter partisan fights.
The president’s first term has been controversial, but his Supreme Court confirmations are “at the top of the heap” of accomplishments, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Fox News.
The current process has moved with unusual speed, taking just 30 days from Barrett’s nomination to likely confirmation, less than half the average of 69.6 days from nomination to final Senate vote, according to a Congressional report. of 2018.
Trump, who follows his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, has said he wants the Barrett to be confirmed before the Nov. 3 election and in place in case the court hears an election-related challenge.
Two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against moving forward after saying in recent weeks that they were opposed to upholding justice so close to an election.
But in a sea change Saturday, Murkowski told his colleagues he would vote to confirm Barrett since there was no possibility of blocking the process.
“I lost that procedural fight,” Murkowski said.
“While I am opposed to the process that has brought us to this point, I do not blame her as an individual” and will vote for her confirmation, Murkowski added.
McConnell prioritized confirmation over all other Senate business, including a new bill to provide relief to millions of Americans and businesses devastated by the coronavirus.
The pandemic has brought a new wrinkle to the process.
Vice President Mike Pence, who also has a constitutional role as president of the Senate, is expected to preside over Monday’s vote, despite the fact that his chief of staff, and reportedly others in Pence’s circle, were diagnosed with Covid. -19 this weekend.
The employee went into quarantine, but a spokesperson said Pence, who tested negative for the virus according to a spokesperson on Sunday, will maintain his current schedule.
That took Schumer by surprise, who warned Sunday that Pence’s decision puts senators and staff at risk.
“The Republican Party is willing to ignore the pandemic to accelerate this nomination to the Supreme Court,” he said.
