Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have voted unanimously today to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination. The full Senate is scheduled to vote on her confirmation Monday. Every Democrat on the committee boycotted the committee vote in protest. The Associated Press writes that “Instead, Democrats arranged for posters to be placed at their spots of constituents they said had been helped by the Affordable Care Act.”
Boycotting Thursday’s Judiciary panel session was forcing Republicans on the panel to change its rules to keep the confirmation on track. Those rules say at least two members of the minority party, Democrats, would need to be present to constitute a quorum for doing business.
"This process is the most rushed, the most illegitimate, the most hypocritical process of any Supreme Court nominee we have ever, ever seen." -Senator Schumer on Democrats boycotting the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to advance Amy Coney Barrett's nomination pic.twitter.com/4odTuUEgW0
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) October 22, 2020
Democrats planned to hold a news conference later Thursday morning on the steps of the Capitol to highlight their opposition to the process and drive home their health care-centric argument against Judge Barrett.
Barring any last-minute surprise, Senate Republicans currently have enough votes to confirm Barrett on Monday.
