Amy Coney Barrett Takes Oath as Newest Supreme Court Justice

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Oct 27, 2020 07:39 AM EDT

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court late Monday by the Senate, with Republicans winning against Democrats.

Barrett, 48, has taken her constitutional oath at a White House ceremony shortly after her Senate's confirmation.

Barrett would be able to work beginning Tuesday, with her lifetime appointment as the 115th justice solidifies the court's leaning to the right.

President Donald Trump, who nominated Barrett for the position, said that this is a momentous day for America. Trump made the statement during the oath-taking event on the White House's South Lawn.

Justice Clarence Thomas administered the constitutional oath to Barrett in front of 200 people, according to an Associated Press News report.

Barrett announced in front of those gathered that she believes it is the judge's responsibility to resist her policy preferences. She also promised to do her job without any fear or favor.

The oathtaking ceremony was done after the Senate's 52-48 confirmation vote shortly after 8 p.m.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dubbed Barrett as "a woman of unparalleled ability and temperament," according to a USA Today report.

Barrett's Confirmation

Barrett's rise to this lifetime seat has been controversial both for partisan and ideological reasons.

A USA Today report said that this represents the conservatives' decades-long project to win the Supreme Court's control.

Reports also said that the Republicans made this possible by blocking former president Barrack Obama from filling conservative Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's seat in the last year of his presidency. This allowed Trump to fill late liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat while facing a re-election battle.

An AP News report also said that Trump's choice of filling the vacancy of Ginsburg possibly opens a new era of rulings on abortion. Aside from that, there could also be a new possible ruling on the Affordable Care Act and even Trump's own election.

Barrett's Background

Barrett is considered to be one of the nation's most conservative federal court judges. She openly opposed the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide before becoming a judge.

Barrett also wrote an unorthodox opinion on the 7th Circuit defending nonviolent felon's right to own firearms. She also criticized Chief Justice John Roberts' prior rulings upholding the Affordable Care Act in scholarly writing.

Barrett is highly regarded in legal circles and known for her scholarly background as a Notre Dame Law School professor.

She also clerked for Scalia in the 1990s and a proponent of interpreting the Constitution and federal statutes as written,

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a warning as the Senate prepared to vote on Monday. Schumer said that the American people would never forget the blatant act of bad faith.

"It will go down as one of the darkest days in the 231-year history of the United States Senate," Schumer said in a USA Today report.

The Republican senators, mostly wearing masks, sat in their seats as is a tradition for landmark votes. Democratic senators, on the other hand, emptied their side, following leadership's advice to not linger in the chamber.

Meanwhile, Barrett is set to take the judicial oath Tuesday at the Supreme Court to be administered by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony.

Earlier, a Rose Garden event with Trump announcing Barrett's nomination reportedly caused the spread of the virus to some guests.