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Republicans in the United States Senate voted overwhelmingly on Sunday (Monday NZT) to advance Supreme Court candidate Amy Coney Barrett toward final confirmation despite Democratic objections, just over a week before the presidential election.
Barrett’s confirmation on Monday (NZT Tuesday) was not in doubt, with the majority of Republicans mostly united in support of the election of US President Donald Trump.
But Democrats were prepared to keep the Senate in session late into the night in an attempt to stalemate, arguing that the winner of the Nov. 3 election should pick the nominee to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Republicans are excited about the opportunity to install a third Trump judge on the court, securing a conservative majority for years to come. Barrett’s rise opens up a potential new era of rulings on abortion, gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act. A case against the Obama-era healthcare law is scheduled to be heard on November 10.
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“The Senate is doing the right thing,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, vowing to install Barrett in court on Monday (NZT Tuesday).
The 51-48 vote launched 30 hours of debate in the Senate. Two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted against the nominee’s advance, and all Democrats who voted opposed. California Sen. Kamala Harris, nominated for the vice presidency, missed the vote while campaigning in Michigan.
Vice President Mike Pence would normally preside over the next polls, but after a close aide tested positive for Covid-19, it was unclear if he will fulfill his role for the historic vote.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the Trump administration’s push to install Barrett during the coronavirus crisis shows that “the Republican Party is willing to ignore the pandemic to push this candidate forward.”
The conservative judge on Saturday picked up crucial backing from Murkowski, one of the last Republicans to resist taking the seat amid a White House election and with more than 50 million people already voting.
Murkowski said he did not like the rush for confirmation, but supported Trump’s choice of Barrett to the superior court. She said she would vote against the procedural steps but would eventually join with party colleagues in confirming Barrett.
“While I am opposed to the process that has brought us to this point, I do not hold it against you,” Murkowski said.
Now the only Republican expected to vote against Barrett is Collins, who faces a tight re-election in Maine. She has said that she will not vote for the nominee this close to the election.
McConnell noted the political grudge, but defended his handling of the process. He scoffed at “horror stories” from Democrats about the judge’s conservative ratings.
Rod Lamkey / AP
Amy Coney Barrett, a nominee for the United States Supreme Court, is a deeply conservative thinker who opposes abortion and Obamacare.
Barrett, 48, appeared in public testimony before the Senate judicial committee as a neutral arbitrator and at one point suggested, “It’s not Amy’s law.” But Barrett’s earlier anti-abortion writings and a ruling on “Obamacare” show a deeply conservative thinker.
“She is a conservative woman who embraces her faith, she is blatantly pro-life, but she is not going to apply ‘Amy’s Law’ to all of us,” committee chairwoman Lindsey Graham said Saturday night on Fox.
Early in Trump’s presidency, McConnell engineered a Senate rule change to allow confirmation by a majority of 100 senators, rather than the 60-vote threshold traditionally needed to advance superior court nominees on the objections. With a 53-47 Republican majority, Barrett’s confirmation is almost certain.
By pushing for Barrett’s rise so close to the Nov. 3 election, Trump and his Republican allies have a campaign boost, much as they believe McConnell’s refusal to allow the Senate to consider the president’s candidate Barack Obama in February 2016 generated excitement for Trump among conservatives and evangelical Christians eager for the Republican president to make that nomination after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Barrett was a professor at Notre Dame Law School when Trump appointed her in 2017 to the opening of an appeals court. Two Democrats joined at the time to confirm her, but neither is expected to vote for her in the next few days.
