‘ Baptism by fire’ for newly appointed Justice Barrett
WASHINGTON ( Reuters) – Newly confirmed conservative US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett faces a barrage of politically fraught cases in her first days on the job, as the court weighs election disputes and prepares to hear a challenge to the Obamacare healthcare law.
The Republican- controlled Senate on Monday pushed through her confirmation over Democratic objections to an appointment so close to the November 3 election. President Donald Trump, who nominated Barrett, has said he expects the court to decide the outcome of the election in which he is being challenged by Democrat Joe Biden.
Barrett, 48, was formally sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts for the lifetime job in a private ceremony at the court on Tuesday morning. Barrett joins the court with two election issues already awaiting her from hotly contested battleground states North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The court would be expected to act on both before Election Day with Barrett, previously an appeals court judge and legal scholar, as part of its expanded 6- 3 conservative majority. No Supreme Court justice had ever been confirmed so close to a presidential election.
“I cannot think of any other situation like this,” said Rick Hasen, an expert on election law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. “It really is a potential baptism by fire.”
One week after the election, the court on November 10 is due to hear a case in which Republicans including Trump are asking the court to strike down the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
During Barrett’s confirmation hearing two weeks ago, Democrats focused on both Obamacare and election cases in voicing opposition to her confirmation. They urged her to step aside from both cases. Barrett refused to make such a commitment. Justices have the final say on whether they recuse themselves in a case.
At a White House ceremony on Monday in which conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered to her one of the two oaths of office that justices must take, Barrett pledged her independence from politics.
But Halie Soifer, executive director for the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said: “Jewish Dems see the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett for what it is – a partisan power grab by President Trump and Senate Republicans, which violates the will of the American people... it’s a
‘ shande’ – a shame to our democracy and judiciary.”
Republican Jewish Coalition national chairman Norm Coleman disagreed.
“Having a full complement of nine justices on the Supreme Court is very important to the smooth and effective working of our constitutional system,” he said. “The president and the Senate appropriately carried out their duties in putting forward and confirming this nominee.”