Amy Coney Barrett Advances Senate Judiciary Committee

Ahead of the vote to advance Judge Amy Coney Barret’s nomination, Senate Democrats announced that they would be boycotting the vote. However, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Barrett despite the boycott. She was reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee by 12-0 with 10 Democrats “no voting.”

Instead, the Democrats that were not present for the vote filled their seats with pictures of people that have been impacted by the Affordable Care Act, which is an issue they have tied to the confirmation of Judge Barrett. Since Judge Barrett was nominated, Democrats have argued that she poses a great threat on the future of the ACA that would negatively impact a large number of Americans.

In response, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R) commented that “that was their choice,” adding that “it will be my choice to vote the nominee out of the committee” at the beginning of the meeting. He further explained that “we are not going to allow them to take over the committee,” expressing that the Democrats “made a choice not to participate.”

Democrats have opposed the confirmation of Judge Barrett, noting how close it is to the upcoming 2020 election, and they have argued that the decision should be left up to the voters by the choice they make on who wins the presidency on election day. In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation, Democrats plan to hold a press conference.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) and Senate Judiciary Democrats expressed that “this has been a sham process from the beginning,” asserting that “we will not grant this process any further legitimacy by participating in a committee markup of this nomination just twelve days before the culmination of an election that is already underway.”

A confirmation vote is expected to be held on the Senate floor on Monday.