GOP- led panel OKs Barrett; Dems boycott

Anominee has not been confirmed so close to a presidential election.

WASHINGTON— Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans powered past a Democratic boycott Thursday to advance-Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate, keeping President Donald Trump’s pick on track for confirmation before Election Day.

Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the GOP’s rush to install Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Never has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee so close to a presidential election.

All 12 Republicans on the panel voted in favor of Barrett, a conservative judge. No- show Democrats displayed posters at their desks of Americans they say have benefited from the Affordable Care Act now being challenged in court. Senators plan to convene a rare weekend session ahead of a final confirmation vote expected Monday.

Republicans have bristled at Democrats’ claim that the Affordable Care Act is in jeopardy if Barrett joins the court, but Trump told CBS “it will be so good” if the court puts an end to the law. The court will hear a Trump- backed case against the “Obamacare” law on Nov. 10.

“I think it’ll end. I hope that they’ll end it,” Trump said in comments released Thursday by the White House ahead of Trump’s CBS “60 Minutes” interview airing Sunday.

Barrett, 48, would lock a 6- 3 conservative court majority for the foreseeable future. That could open a new era of rulings on abortion access, gay marriage and even the results of the presidential election.

As the Judiciary panel met, protesters, some shouting “Stop the confirmation!” demonstrated outside the Capitol across the street from the Supreme Court.

Some dressed as handmaids, a reference to Barrett’s role in a conservative religious group that once called high- ranking women members “handmaids.” Other demonstrators had “# Support Amy” signs.

The protesters drowned out Democratic senators who had called a news conference to decry what they called a “sham” confirmation process.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate Republican majority “is conducting the most rushed, most partisan and the least legitimate nomination to the Supreme Court in our nation’s history.”

“Democrats will not lend a single ounce of legitimacy to this sham vote,” he said. Unable to stop the confirmation, Democrats have been trying unsuccessfully to stall the process so the winner of the presidency could name the new nominee.