Barrett's Confirmation to Push Through Despite Senate Hearing Delay Due to COVID-19
The confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court will not be delayed despite the possibility of having to reschedule the committee vote on her nomination.
This because two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee-Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are currently quarantining themselves for ten days after testing positive to a COVID-19 infection.
They were among those who attended a White House Rose Garden ceremony on September 26, wherein President Donald Trump confirmed his nomination of Barrett and got infected with the COVID-19, including the president and first lady Melania Trump.
Republican senators have urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to send the Senate home for at least a week to prevent a mass infection among them and derail their plans of confirming Barrett before the November 3 presidential election.
Trump has nominated Barrett to take the seat vacated by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away last month, despite the Democrats' opposition.
McConnell did accede by officially recessing the chamber through October 19, but he made it clear on the Senate floor on Monday, October 5, that they will go full steam ahead with a fair, thorough, and timely confirmation process that Judge Barrett, the Court, and the nation deserves.
The confirmation hearings will begin on October 12, 9 a.m., as announced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Monday, just in time for Senators Lee and Tillis to finish with their quarantine barring any complication.
Senator Lee has issued a statement over the weekend. He said that he has spoken with McConnell and Graham and assured them that he would be back to work in time to join his Judiciary Committee colleagues in advancing the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Barrett.
A third senator, Ron Johnson, had also announced that he has tested positive over the weekend, bringing three senators infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Johnson, however, had not attended the White House Rose Garden ceremony.
Nevertheless, the Republicans, who hold a two-seat majority on the Judiciary Committee, plan to hold confirmation hearings even with members having to attend virtually as permitted by the committee rules.
However, those same rules also stipulate that most members must be present for a nomination to be put on a vote.
The rule stated that no bill, matter, or nomination should be ordered reported from the committee unless a majority of the members are actually present at the time an action is taken.
The Democrats, who have been opposing Barrett's nomination as they want the U.S. Supreme Court seat to remain vacant until after the election, are pushing for the postponement of the proceedings.
They have argued that the right to nominate someone to the U.S. Supreme Court, a lifetime appointment, should belong to whoever wins the November election.
The Democrats have cited that pushing through with Barrett's nomination hearings might cause a widespread transmission of COVID-19 at the Senate.
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Trump Confirms Barrett's Supreme Court Nomination at Flag-bedecked Rose Garden
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