GOP-led Senate panel advances Amy Coney Barrett's SC nomination as Democrats boycott vote

Washington: Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans powered past a Democratic boycott Thursday to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate, keeping President Donald Trump’s pick on track for confirmation before Election Day. Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the GOP’s rush to install Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Never has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee so close to a presidential election. The Republicans, who hold the majority, voted unanimously in favor of Barrett, a conservative judge. Instead of attending, the Democrats displayed posters at their desks of Americans they say have benefited from the Affordable Care Act now being challenged in court. Senators plan to convene a rare weekend session ahead of a final confirmation vote expected Monday. “This is a groundbreaking, historic moment,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC, the committee chairman. “We did it." The 48-year-old federal judge’s ascent to the high court would lock a 6-3 conservative majority on the court for the foreseeable future. That could open a new era of rulings on the Affordable Care Act, abortion access, and even the results of the presidential election. Protesters demonstrated outside the Senate office buildings across the street from the Supreme Court. Six people were arrested and charged on suspicion of crowding or other obstructions, the US Capitol Police said. Unable to stop the confirmation, Democrats have been trying unsuccessfully to stall the process until after the 3 November election, so the winner of the presidency could name the new nominee. “We should not be moving forward on this nomination,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. He called Barrett’s views “so far out of the mainstream.” With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, Trump’s pick for the court is almost certain to be confirmed. All Democrats are expected to oppose Barrett’s confirmation. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the court fight will be perhaps the “single most important accomplishment” of Trump’s presidency. Boycotting Thursday’s Judiciary panel session forced Republicans on the panel to adjust its rules to keep the confirmation on track. Those rules say at least two members of the minority party, Democrats, would need to be present to constitute a quorum for doing business. Republicans said the committee was well within its normal practice to hold the vote, even with Democrats skipping it. Democrats countered that never before have the rules been brushed past for a Supreme Court confirmation. Republican senators ridiculed the Democratic boycott as election-year antics. “Rather than show up and do their job, they continue the theater,” said Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, pointing out the posters at the senators’ desks. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, called the objections to Barrett a “scare tactic.” Senator  Mike Lee, R-Utah, called the boycott “a walkout on the American people.” Graham said he did regret the process, but couldn’t allow Barrett’s nomination to falter. Barrett, an appellate court judge from Indiana, appeared for three days before the panel last week, batting back Democrats’ questions. She was asked about her approach to legal questions surrounding abortion access, gay marriage, and the nation’s tradition of a peaceful transfer of presidential power. Trump has said he wants a judge seated in time to hear any potential disputes arising from the Nov. 3 election, and Barrett declined to say if she would recuse herself from such cases. Many judicial nominees decline to discuss their views on various issues, saying they will consider the cases as they come. Barrett took a similar approach, drawing deep skepticism from Democrats because she had previously spoken out against abortion and past rulings on the Affordable Care Act. The court is set to hear a challenge to the health care law on Nov. 10, one week after the presidential election, and Trump has said he wants a justice who won’t rule as others have to uphold the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. Barrett released dozens of answers this week to additional questions senators had posed, but her responses were similar as she declined to weigh in on whether the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling is a so-called “super precedent” of the court or whether the president could unilaterally change the date set in law for the election. Two Republican senators on the panel, Lee and Thom Tillis, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Rose Garden event where Trump announced Barrett as his nominee. They’ve since returned to in-person sessions, saying their doctors cleared them from quarantine. Two other Republicans, Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have objected to the quick vote, but they are not on the panel. Senate Majority Leader McConnell has defended Barrett as “exceptionally qualified” as well as his own decision to push her nomination forward, even after he refused to consider Barack Obama’s nominee in February 2016 saying it was too close to a presidential election, with Obama in his second and final term. On Wednesday, McConnell criticized a story from The Associated Press that delved into Barrett’s role on the board of trustees of a Christian school with anti-gay policies toward student families and staff. McConnell noted that Barrett had already disclosed her work with the school to the Senate and “has taken the same oath of impartiality as every other federal judge, and has affirmed over and over that her legal judgment is independent of her private opinions.” Republicans have focused on Barrett’s Catholic faith, calling her a role model for conservative and religious women.