Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing opens in the United States Supreme Court

Updated 25 minutes ago

THE SENATE JUDICIAL Committee Hearing that could see President Donald Trump’s election confirmed in the Supreme Court before Election Day begins in the United States.

The Republican-led Senate has anticipated Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing that will likely see her replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and cement the conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

Unless there is a dramatic event, Republicans appear to have the votes to confirm the 48-year-old conservative appellate judge for a life seat on the court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, meeting on a federal holiday, began four days of statements and testimony in an environment that has been altered by the coronavirus pandemic. Some senators participate remotely and the courtroom itself has been organized with public health concerns in mind.

Senator Lindsey Graham opened the hearing by acknowledging that “the Covid problem in the United States is real.” But he said: “We have a country that needs to move forward safely.”

He added: “This will be a long and controversial week.”

Barrett wore a face mask, as were the roughly 100 people in the cavernous courtroom.

Democrats wasted no time trying to link Barrett’s nomination to a threat to the Affordable Care Act. If confirmed quickly, Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when he hears the latest challenge to the law popularly known as “Obamacare” on November 10, a week after the election.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s lead Democrat, said: “Health care coverage for millions of Americans is at stake with this nomination.”

Barrett, a federal appeals court judge, will tell senators that she is “eternally grateful” for Ginsburg’s pioneering path as a woman. But she is determined to keep the perspective of her own mentor, the late Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, and “apply the law as it is written,” according to her opening remarks prepared for the hearings.

“The courts are not designed to solve all the problems or correct all the errors in our public life,” Barrett says in comments.

Republicans are moving at a breakneck pace to seat Barrett ahead of the Nov. 3 election to secure Trump’s election, putting her on the bench for any election-related challenge.

Democrats are trying in vain to delay fast-track confirmation by raising new concerns about the safety of meeting during the pandemic after two Republican senators on the panel tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Senator Mike Lee, one of those who tested positive, is in the courtroom after his spokesman said he had no symptoms. The other affected senator, Republican Thom Tillis, was participating remotely, although he also shows no symptoms, his spokesman said. They both tested positive 10 days ago.