Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously endorsed Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett Thursday as the panel’s 10 Democrats boycotted the vote.
The 12-0 committee vote sends Barrett’s nomination to the Senate, which is expected to take action Monday on President Trump’s choice to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett is Trump’s third Supreme Court pick, after Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
The decision by all 10 Democrats, including Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to refuse to vote on Barrett’s candidacy came after they opposed her appointment because of her legal opinions on several social issues — including the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and abortion rights,
Democrats also have sharply rebuked committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and other Republicans for reversing their 2016 stance that, in a presidential election year, the Senate should wait until people have voted before adding a new justice to the Supreme Court.
Four years ago, Senate Republicans refused to consider then-President Barack Obama’s last pick for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland.
After Republicans forwarded Barrett’s nomination for a confirmation vote Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., Leahy and other judiciary committee Democrats sharply criticized their colleagues across the aisle.
Leahy, at a press conference on the Capitol steps Thursday, said Barrett’s confirmation has become a “caricature of illegitimacy” — a sentiment he expressed repeatedly in the past week.
The senior Vermont senator said that, in her confirmation process, Barrett did not adequately answer many questions that attempted to get to the core of her legal opinions.
“Judge Barrett refused to stand up for even the most basic tenets of our democracy,” Leahy said. “She refused to affirm that the Constitution contemplates a peaceful transfer of power; she refused to acknowledge the voter discrimination that exists when we all know it does.
“And she refused to recuse herself from any election dispute,” he said. “Make no mistake, President Trump was listening and he sees this as a green light to do whatever he wants.”
Senate Democrats have argued Barrett would usher in a new age of conservative activism on the high court.
During last week’s confirmation hearing, Leahy and other Democrats pressed Barrett on whether she would recuse herself from any election decisions the court might have to make in the aftermath of the November election. Senate Democrats also said they were deeply concerned that she would vote to strike down the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
On Thursday in the judiciary committee, Democratic senators had their vacant seats filled with photographs of people whose health care coverage could disappear if the Supreme Court rules that the ACA is unconstitutional.
The high court is expected to hear a Republican challenge to the health insurance statute next month and, with the addition of Barrett, the court would hold a 6-3 conservative majority.
It’s estimated that, if Obamacare is struck down, 20 million Americans could lose their health insurance. In addition, Obamacare requires coverage of people with pre-existing conditions, which a government analysis in 2017 said affects about 130 million people, roughly half the population under age 65.
In Leahy’s seat Thursday was a poster of Mary Scott of Northfield, who has been diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare neurological disease that qualifies as a pre-existing condition under the ACA.
Ds will not legitimize a 'process' that's a caricature of illegitimacy. But we'll remind Rs who they're harming by ramming thru a nom to gut the #ACA. VTer Mary Scott is rightly worried about what will happen to those like her with #preexisting conditions if Rs kill #ACA. pic.twitter.com/9hJJIdeXJT
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) October 22, 2020
Leahy used Scott as an example of the importance of maintaining the ACA and why he was deeply concerned about adding Barrett to the Supreme Court.
“For Mary, her biggest priority is preserving the in-home support that allows her to continue living at home and taking care of her children,” Leahy said on Oct. 12. “When I think of what the Affordable Care Act means to millions of Americans — and what is on the line with this nomination — I think of people like Mary.”
