Amy Coney Barrett Hearing: 4 Key Moments From Monday's Confirmation

By Tiziana Celine First Posted: Oct 13, 2020 03:41 AM EDT

Amy Coney Barrett's first day of confirmation hearings as President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court featured many fiery speeches.

Many of them aimed at the presidential election next month rather than the nominee herself.
Democrats concentrated mostly on the Affordable Care Act and the sponsorship of President Donald Trump on a case that might invalidate the law. The lawsuit's hearing has been set on November 10.

Republicans defended the decision to confirm Barrett too close to the election and attempted, primarily by criticizing Democratic statements from 2017, to preempt any concerns regarding her Catholic religion.

Audiences might be forgiven if they often overlooked that this was a confirmation from the Supreme Court rather than a democratic convention.

These are four takeaways from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on day one:

Barrett tells the committee not to do Congress' job

Amy Coney Barrett stressed the position of the judicial branch in her opening speech on Monday. She said it is not the court's responsibility to solve every issue or redress every wrong in American life.

"The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people," Barrett said. "The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try."

Barrett contrasted her legal ideology with Antonin Scalia, a late Judge and a pioneer of the court's right side. She had previously worked with the said judge.

While Justice Scalia's reasoning shaped her for who she is now, she said that approach sometimes meant reaching results that she did not like.

Dems make a personal pitch to protect ObamaCare

There is a suggestion that Trump nominated her because of her stance towards the Universal Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare.

The situation seemed to be a significant feature of the assaults by Democrats on Barrett. The oral arguments that might come up in November in a case that might mean the end of it.

A range of senators has insisted that this event, to be heard one week after the presidential election, is the true explanation why the Republicans are trying to confirm Barrett.

The president has frequently suggested appointing a judge who will rule against Obamacare, and Barrett opposed the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling that approved it before becoming a federal judge.

"They are trying to get a justice onto the Court in time to ensure they can strip away the protections in the Affordable Care Act," Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, said of Republicans.

"If they succeed, it will result in millions of people losing access to health care at the worst possible time in the middle of a pandemic," she added.

Republicans look for openings to discuss religion

Republicans questioned Democrats in their opening remarks for past concerns regarding Amy Coney Barrett's views and beliefs.

They also criticized the reports regarding her affiliation with a Christian group named People of Praise. However, it was just the Republicans, not Democrats, debating faith at Monday's hearing.

In her opening statement, Barrett also nodded to her faith. She said she trusts in the influence of prayer.

Nevertheless, Republicans had loads of ammunition from previous attempts to topple Democrats, namely Barrett's 2017 federal appeals court nomination session, such as when California's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of the vote, claimed the dogma "lives loudly in [Barrett]."

A Missouri Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley, accused Democrats of a "pattern and practice of religious bigotry."

Democrats pressed Barrett on Roe v. Wade and other abortion cases. The allegations tied to faith was more than the two days of questions to follow compared to the opening day speeches.

Hawley criticized Sen. Chris Coons for saying that there was a risk of being struck down by a previous Supreme Court case, Griswold v. Connecticut. The said case allowed married couples the right to obtain and use contraception.

Hawley argued that the reference was "another hit on the religious faith of Barrett, relating to Catholic doctrinal convictions." But it is a case that was regularly discussed at hearings on the judicial confirmation.

Barrett's confirmation could be 'harmful to women,' Leahy claims

Sen. Patrick Leahy said Barrett might pose a significant threat to the women's and minorities' rights. He suggested that Americans are concerned that her involvement would set the nation back decades if she becomes a high court justice.

"They're scared that the clock will be turned back to a time when women had no right to control their bodies and when it was acceptable to discriminate against women in the workplace," Leahy said.

The Democrat argues that there is fear that Barrett would rule in ways that under the statute will undo many other types of fair rights.

According to Leahy, the groups are fearful that her nomination would contribute to the scaling back of the freedom to vote, workers' rights, and the LGBTQ community's rights to proper care. He underscored that these are real-life results of the court's judgments.