Supreme Court confirmation hearing starts under 2020 cloud
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett starts Monday amid a very 2020 backdrop:
Beset by COVID-19, sharply divided along political lines, conducted with the help of remote videoconferencing, with sweeping policies on health care, abortion and more hanging in the balance.
Senate Republicans will press to swiftly confirm the 48-year-old federal appeals court judge and former law professor before the Nov. 3 presidential election. That would establish a 6-3 majority for the court’s conservative wing and solidify that tilt for what could be decades.
President Donald Trump has urged the Senate to make it a priority over another coronavirus relief bill, even as he is isolated in the White House and off the campaign trail after his hospitalization for COVID-19, which he might have contracted at a Rose Garden announcement for Barrett’s nomination on Sept. 26.
“It will be fast and easy!” Trump tweeted about Barrett’s confirmation. It was in response to an author’s suggestion that the Barrett confirmation battle would be “bloody” because Barrett would “help pick the next president” – an allusion to the president’s apparent plan to have Barrett on the bench in time to rule on any contested election.
Two Senate Judiciary Committee members, Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are expected to appear remotely as they self-isolate because they tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Barrett announcement event.
Democrats are opposed to pushing forward with such a consequential hearing amid a pandemic and allowing for remote participation, as Lee attended a committee hearing in person the day before he tested positive and Capitol Hill support staff will have to work as well.
“I will be there in person. I will be wearing a mask. I will be insisting that every senator and staff be tested twice before they enter that room,” said Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a committee member. “And I’m hopeful that my colleagues will wear masks as well.”
Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a committee member, said he would attend in person, but several members with health concerns would have to do it over video, which makes it harder to read body language or determine tone or inflection.
“It attenuates the engagement that’s possible with the nominee. It increases the likelihood that we’re sort of speaking past each other,” Coons said. “And it is one of several reasons why we shouldn’t be doing this next week.”
Barrett will likely get a question or two related to the pandemic, and her role in the Rose Garden announcement ceremony that some point to as a possible superspreader event for the coronavirus.
The committee plans to have protective equipment stations, sanitary stations and strict limits on persons allowed into the hearing room, among other precautions.
Other than all that, barring any more 2020-esque twists and surprises, the four-day hearing could play out similarly to how it did for Trump’s previous two Supreme Court appointees.