Timeline for confirmation hearings.
Nominee to meet with lawmakers this week
WASHINGTON – Amy Coney Barrett will appear before senators for her first confirmation hearing on Oct. 12, two Capitol Hill sources told USA TODAY, as Senate Republicans push to confirm President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee quickly, possibly before Election Day.
The hearing is one of four that week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel tasked with vetting judicial nominees and where nominees are grilled on a range of sensitive issues that could be taken up by the high court.
This week, she is scheduled to meet oneon-one with members of the Senate. These meetings, typical in any Supreme Court vetting, will allow senators to both question Barrett on her opinion on issues and give them the chance to get to know the nominee.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who chairs the committee, and other Republicans have said they are planning to move quickly, with a vote before the end of October.
The fast pace of Barrett’s nomination comes even amid mounting pressure from Democrats to press pause on filling the vacancy. A number of swing-state Republicans signaled their support in moving forward, likely killing any chances Democrats had of preventing another conservative being sworn in to the high court. If Barrett is confirmed by the full Senate, the court would have a strong conservative majority, possibly for years to come.
“It is important that we proceed expeditiously to process any nomination made by President Trump to fill this vacancy,” Graham said in a letter to Democrats last week. “I am certain if the shoe were on the other foot, you would do the same.”
The average length of a Supreme Court nomination since 1975 has been 70 days – from the submission of the nomination to a final Senate vote. If Republicans do hope to approve Barrett’s nomination by Election Day, the process will have to move quicker as there are only 38 days between Saturday and Election Day on Nov. 3, and 116 days between Saturday and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2021.
The process normally includes the hearings, one-on-one meetings between senators and the nominee, an FBI background examination and document requests. The process could take longer should there be any hiccups, such as an issue in the nominee’s background. For example, Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation was delayed by allegations of sexual assault and took three months in 2018.