Senate Democrats will BOYCOTT SCOTUS committee vote for Amy Coney Barrett and put pictures of people with pre-existing conditions on their chairs in protest at Trump nomination
Senate Democrats are planning to make a dramatic gesture by boycotting Thursday's scheduled committee markup for action on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett – though it won't stop her controversial nomination from advancing.
The move is meant to deny committee Republicans a quorum, but Republicans are already making plans to change the rules and steam ahead. Nevertheless, it will allow Senate Democrats to show fire as voters are going to the polls, amid signs of frustration among base voters who were hoping to see the nomination stalled until after the election.
It comes after the top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, came under fire by abortion rights group NARAL, which called for her to give up her chairmanship, saying she provided the 'appearance of credibility' to the hearings.
Now, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer is backing the confrontational move, with his party having little hope of stopping the nomination when it hits the floor, where Republicans hold the majority.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, arrives for closed meetings with senators, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Democrats plan to boycott a committee markup
There is little they can do to prevent Republicans from rushing to confirm President Donald Trump's pick before Election Day.
Likewise, Democrats had no ability to stop the Republican run committee from taking up hearings and scheduling a vote just weeks before the election, even with polls showing Americans would prefer to wait.
The Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by Republicans, is expected to change the rules if necessary to recommend Barrett's nomination to the full Senate. Senators are planning a rare weekend session to secure her confirmation on Monday.
Schumer announced the planned boycott in a speech late Wednesday on the Senate floor.
'We should not be moving forward on this nomination,' he said, calling Barrett's views 'so far out of the mainstream.' No Supreme Court nominee has ever been confirmed so close to a presidential election.
Sen. Kamala Harris spoke to the Judiciary Committee remotely from her Capitol office just steps away from the live hearing, which she criticized as a threat to staff and Capitol workers. She accused Amy Coney Barrett of planning to undo Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy. Sen. Mike Lee appeared live despite testing positive for coronavirus days ago, while panel chair Lindsey Graham said he did not need to take a test due to the limited nature of his exposure to Lee
Personal appeals: Democrats put up pictures of people from their states who they say would face losing healthcare if the Affordable Care Act was struck down and said they believed Amy Coney Barrett was selected to do precisely that
Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett is sworn into her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on October 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) accused her of seeking to 'undo' Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy. Barrett is being considered to fill the seat Ginsburg held for decades
In this file photo from Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has an exchange with Republican Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham at the close of the four days of confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, on Capitol Hill in Washington. NARAL blasted Feinstein's handling of the hearings
Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee attended Barrett's hearing after testing positive for COVID-19
He immediately forced a vote to recess the Senate until after the Nov. 3 election, but it failed. 'These are all such violations of American norms, values, decency and honor,' he said.
'Throughout the hearings last week, committee Democrats demonstrated the damage a Justice Barrett would do – to health care, reproductive freedoms, the ability to vote, and other core rights that Americans cherish,' Schumer and panel Democrats said in a statement. '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.'
''I will move forward. She deserves a vote,' said panel chair Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who faces a tough reelection in his home state.
'As to my Democratic colleagues’ refusal to attend the markup, that is a choice they are making. I believe it does a disservice to Judge Barrett who deserves a vote, up or down,' he said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set Barrett's confirmation on a fast-track following the death last month of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If confirmed Monday, Barrett could be seated on the high court that same day.
With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, Trump's pick for the court is almost certain to be confirmed. Boycotting Thursday's committee hearing won´t stop the process, but could potentially force Republicans on the panel to alter the rules to keep the confirmation on track.
'Judge Barrett deserves a vote and she will receive a vote,' said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the committee chairman, in a statement. 'Barrett deserves to be on the Supreme Court and she will be confirmed.'
Committee rules say at least two members of the minority party, Democrats, would need to be present to constitute a quorum for doing business. Graham made no mention of the process ahead, if Democrats fail to show up.
But Mike Davis, a former top aide on the panel who now advises Senate Republicans, said the committee was well within its normal practice to hold the vote, even if Democrats skip it. He said the longstanding practice has been to allow business to go forward if all members of the majority, Republicans, attend.
Two Republican senators on the panel, Mike Lee and Thom Tillis, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Rose Garden event where Trump announced Barrett as his nominee. The panel established remote operations during the coronavirus pandemic. Those two senators have since returned to in-person sessions, saying their doctors cleared them from quarantine.
Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, have objected to the quick vote, but they are not on the panel. Even if they oppose Barrett's confirmation, Republicans have the votes to push ahead. No Senate Democrats are expected to support Barrett's confirmation.
Barrett, a 48-year-old appellate court judge who has spoken out against abortion and a court ruling on the Affordable Care Act, is on track to lock in a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court for years to come.
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