Senate advances Barrett court confirmation to final vote

WASHINGTON — Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination cleared another Senate hurdle Sunday and appeared headed for confirmation to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.

The Senate voted 51-48 to break a filibuster and end debate, allowing a final vote on the confirmation to occur Monday evening. Two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with Democrats.

Republicans have rushed through the nomination of the conservative judge over objections by Democrats, including Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, who claim a Supreme Court heavily tilted to the right will eliminate health care coverage for millions.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act on Nov. 10. The decade-old law made health care coverage mandatory and eliminated the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

“The next Supreme Court justice will be the deciding vote on whether to rip away health care from 400,000 Nevadans, including 158,000 children that have received affordable, quality health coverage under the Affordable Care Act,” Cortez Masto said when Barrett was nominated.

Rosen, too, raised the concern about health care coverage, but also noted that the confirmation process was taking place while “millions of Americans are already voting.”

Both Nevada lawmakers are expected to speak against the nomination before the vote Monday.

Democrats critical of timing

Democrats have argued that the nomination of a replacement for Ginsburg, a liberal icon who died in September, should be made by the winner of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Barrett, 48, “one of the most qualified nominees for judicial service that we’ve seen in our lifetimes.”

McConnell noted that Barrett received bipartisan support for her confirmation three years ago to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. McConnell also predicted that by tomorrow night “we’ll have a new member of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Confirmation of Barrett to the court would give conservatives a 6-3 edge, with three members appointed by President Donald Trump.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Barrett’s nomination and confirmation would be “the most significant achievement” by the president in his first term.

Republicans accused Democrats of using the health care argument to oppose Barrett, because it was difficult to attack the nominee’s credentials to sit on the Supreme Court.

But some Republicans were still uneasy with the rush of the nomination during a coronavirus pandemic that continued to threaten the Senate proceedings.

Two senators on the Judiciary Committee, Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, fell ill to the virus during the confirmation hearings, but recovered to take part in the questioning.

And staffers surrounding Vice President Mike Pence have tested positive for COVID-19. Pence has tested negative, but senators were asked by reporters Sunday whether the vice president, who would cast a tie-breaking vote, should be present in the Senate chambers Monday.

McConnell refused to answer the question, but several senators, including John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they would leave it up to Pence’s “best judgment” whether to attend.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Republicans’ flouting of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on COVID-19, and their rush to push through a Supreme Court nominee instead of a coronavirus relief bill “sets a terrible, terrible example to the American people.”

Schumer said Republicans were ignoring the economic needs of Americans in order to confirm a conservative jurist to the Supreme Court just over a week before the election and after 50 million people have cast ballots for president.

Republicans defended their effort, noting the need for a full bench should the election face legal challenges that the Supreme Court might decide, similar to the 2000 race.

Meanwhile, Barrett, a mother of seven, told the Judiciary Committee that she would be a fair arbiter of judicial cases that come before the bench and that she had “no agenda.”

But she declined to answer specific questions about how she would rule on abortion rights, the ACA case or presidential powers and cases that could stem from the election.

Murkowski and Collins vowed not to vote on confirmation of a nominee before the election, citing McConnell’s decision to block Judge Merrick Garland, a nominee of President Barack Obama, in 2016.

Although Murkowski voted with Democrats on Sunday, she released a statement that said she would vote to confirm Barrett, who Murkowski said is qualified and has handled the confirmation gauntlet with grace.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.