The Senate is set to vote Monday to confirm Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, all but guaranteeing her elevation to the high court before the Nov. 3 election.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are slated to push her nomination through Thursday to the full Senate to debate the president’s pick over the weekend before taking a roll-call vote.
Democrats have said they’ll boycott the committee’s vote, but they have little recourse to stop the swift process. With a GOP majority on the Judiciary Committee — even if no minority members show up — Chairman Lindsey Graham can muscle Judge Barrett forward.
“We’re voting at 1 o’clock and all we need is the majority,” the South Carolina Republican told reporters.
With 12 Republicans on the 22-member committee, the nominee is all but guaranteed to be sent to the full chamber.
Democrats had hoped to pick off vulnerable GOP senators who are up for reelection — there are four of them on the committee — but so far those efforts have failed.
The committee’s rules note that at least two Democrats, as the minority party, must be present during the vote for a quorum to be reached. But Republicans could change the rules with a majority vote.
“Fearing a loss at the ballot box, Republicans are showing that they do not care about the rules or what the American people want, but are concerned only with raw political power,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
Sen. Cory A. Booker, New Jersey Democrat and a member of the Judiciary Committee, called the process “anti-democratic.”
Mr. Graham and other Senate Republicans in the past said a high court nominee shouldn’t be processed during an election year, Mr. Booker noted.
“This is a time they should be waiting and trusting the American people,” Mr. Booker told reporters.
Republicans refused to move forward with President Obama’s pick to fill the seat left vacant in 2016 by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.
But Republicans this year have moved swiftly to fill the vacancy left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in September.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, argued that it is a political process governed by which party controls the Senate and the White House.
Mr. Schumer, though, accused Republicans of wanting Judge Barrett on the bench ahead of any legal disputes surrounding a contested election on Nov. 3, and also before a Nov. 10 case where the justices will weigh the individual mandate, part of the Affordable Care Act.
He said President Trump’s latest nominee didn’t answer questions directly during her confirmation hearings last week and even refused to say if the president could legally change the date of the election unilaterally.
“Truly unprecedented,” Mr. Schumer said.
Democrats attempted to adjourn the Senate until after the election, but Republicans shot down those attempts multiple times this week.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican and a member of the Judiciary Committee, predicted these types of delay tactics will continue in the committee meeting Thursday and over the weekend, with Democrats demanding various votes in an attempt to slow-walk the final confirmation vote for Judge Barrett.
“I don’t think they will succeed. I don’t think they think they will succeed — it’s theater at this point,” Mr. Hawley said.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.