The Senate cleared a key procedural hurdle Sunday for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination, bringing the 48-year-old judge one step closer to confirmation to the Supreme Court.
In a 51-48 vote, the Senate voted to move forward with 30 hours of debate on Barrett’s nomination, setting up a final confirmation vote for Monday evening, just eight days before the Nov. 3 election. The Senate is expected to remain in session overnight into Monday.
Throughout the weekend, Senate Democrats highlighted the skyrocketing Covid-19 cases in the U.S., arguing that GOP leaders were prioritizing Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation over a stimulus package — even though negotiations over a bipartisan relief proposal have remained stalled for months.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined all Democrats in voting against the procedural step. Both senators opposed confirming Barrett before the election, but only Collins has said she will vote against Barrett’s final confirmation.
Murkowski announced Saturday that she will ultimately support Barrett’s confirmation to the high court, citing her qualifications even as she harangued the process that GOP leaders used to shepherd her nomination through the Senate.
Senate Democrats have accused Republicans of hypocrisy for confirming Barrett so close to the presidential election, after McConnell blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. But Republicans argue that the situation is different because the White House and the Senate are now controlled by the same party.
Barrett’s confirmation will shift the balance of the Supreme Court for a generation. President Donald Trump nominated Barrett to the Supreme Court last month, shortly after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon. Barrett is Trump’s third high court nominee.
In their fight against Barrett, Democrats have focused almost exclusively on the future of the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Nov. 10 in the Trump administration’s challenge to the 2010 law, which could result in its wholesale invalidation.
Prior to becoming a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Barrett criticized Chief Justice John Roberts’ vote to uphold Obamacare. But during her confirmation hearing, Barrett insisted she was not “hostile” to the law and Senate Republicans have expressed doubt she would move to strike it down.
Senate Democrats have no procedural tools to stop Barrett’s nomination from going forward, despite several acts of protest in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote. Democrats boycotted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance Barrett’s nomination to the floor, and in a highly unusual move on Friday they forced the Senate into a closed session for 20 minutes — the first time the Senate went into such a session in more than a decade.
Barrett was confirmed to her current position on the Seventh Circuit on a 55-43 vote, with a handful of Democrats crossing party lines to support her nomination.