Democrats blast Barrett over health care
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., informed Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that he would not support her confirmation because he believes she would rule to overturn the Affordable Care Act, joining other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who made the health care law the center piece of their opposition during the first hearing of her confirmation Monday.
“Your nomination is about the Republican goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act, the Obamacare they seem to detest so much,” Blumenthal said.
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee took the first steps in what is expected to be an expedited process to give Barrett a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court, with each senator on the committee making statements. Barrett introduced herself to the committee as a mother and a judge.
“Courts have a vital responsibility to enforce the rule of law, which is critical to a free society,”
Barrett said. “But courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people.”
Barrett spoke for about 10 minutes Monday afternoon. Much of the hearing
Monday had little to do with the specifics of Barrett’s background and legal philosophy: Democrats spent their time describing the horrors they believed another conservative justice would wreck on American life; while Republicans charged Democrats as anti-religion and interested only in judges who would support their liberal agenda.
“From a qualifications point of view, I think she is a slam dunk,” Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after the hearing. “Unfortunately, politics have bounced now around judges, and we'll see what happens in the next two days. But I'm proud of the committee. We have stern differences, but they were displayed respectfully.”
Prior to hearing, Democrats decided that protecting the Obama health care law would be their focus and they used their time to paint a catastrophic picture of Barrett’s impact on health care three weeks before the Nov. 3 election. They attacked their fellow Republican senators and President Donald Trump, but lodged few direct criticisms of Barrett or her record, except declaring her an opponent of the ACA, pointing to her previous writings criticizing decisions that upheld the law.
Republicans on the committee said Democrats unfairly reduced Barrett to a tool to achieve a conservative agenda, while indicating Democrats would only support judges who backed their policy priorities — preservation of the Affordable Care Act. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called that “hypocrisy.”
Barrett, 48, is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and was confirmed to that position by the Senate in 2017. A former clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, conservatives hope Barrett will follow in his footsteps on the court. A professor at Notre Dame Law School, she’s a practicing Catholic and mother of seven who has been applauded for her commitment to students.
“I’m used to being in a group of nine — my family,” Barrett joked in her statement.
Democrats mostly skirted direct comment on Barrett’s background and legal record, in favor of criticisms of Republicans’ decision to pursue the confirmation so close to the election, attacking the GOP covid-19 response and pushing their health care message.
“We’ve heard virtually not a single word about Judge Barrett,” observed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “Part of the reason for that is by any measure Judge Barrett’s credentials are impeccable.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the hearing a “sham,” saying “it shows real messed up priorities from the Republican Party.”
Blumenthal called Barrett an “activist” judge. He called her dissenting opinion in the case Kanter v. Barr “radical,” claiming it indicated she would seek to overturn Connecticut’s gun laws. He also asked Barrett to recuse herself from any election case involving Trump, who nominated her.
“Your participation — let me be very blunt — in any case involving Donald Trump’s election would immediately do explosive, enduring harm to the court’s legitimacy and your own credibility,” Blumenthal said. “You must recuse yourself.”
Trump revived an old attack on Blumenthal Monday, tweeting “So crazy to watch Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut lecture all on morals & ethics when for 25 years he said he was a Great War Hero in Vietnam, and he was never even there. He lied & cheated right up until the day he got caught.”
In a speech in 2008, Blumenthal claimed he had “served in Vietnam.” He has since apologized for these remarks, saying he had “misspoken” about his military service during the Vietnam War era “on a few occasions.” He served in the Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1976, but didn’t go to Vietnam.
Shortly after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last month, former Vice President Joe Biden, his running mate U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, a member of the Judiciary Committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer met to plan their strategy to attack the confirmation process. The four Democrats settled on one area of focus, health care, Schumer said.
Thus, on Monday, each Democrat highlighted the personal story of an individual who they said would be hurt by the loss of the Affordable Care Act or someone impacted by
COVID-19. They displayed poster-sized images of these people in the hearing room Monday. Blumenthal displayed a huge photo of 10-year-old Ridgefield resident Conner Curan, who suffers from Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy.
“Conner is a superhero, but he’s always had a real sidekick; he’s had the protection of the Affordable Care Act,” Blumenthal said. “It has protected Conner from losing insurance because of this insidious disease that he never caused and chose... Conner and millions of others like him are why I will oppose your nomination.”
Republicans lambasted Democrats claiming they opposed Barrett due to her Catholic religious views, accusing Democrats of “religious bigotry.”
They repeatedly reminded listeners of a past comment of ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Barrett’s religious views, when Feinstein said the “dogma lives loudly within you” during a 2017 confirmation hearing for Barrett to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. During Monday’s hearing, Democrats steered clear of remarking on Barrett’s faith.
Republicans also reminded viewers of the 2018 confirmation hearings of now Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was publicly accused of sexual assualt during his confirmation process. Republicans claimed the allegations were a smear invented by Democrats, while Democrats pushed for further investigation into the conduct of Kavanaugh.
“We all watched the hearings for Justice Kavanaugh. It was a freak show!” Sen. John Kennedy,
R-La., shouted Monday. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., accused Democrats of “dropping an axe” on the confirmation process in 2018, saying that performance undermined their credibility when they raised objections to Republicans’ process.
Unable to delay or slow the confirmation process, Democrats made their opening statements and remarks after the hearing an explicit appeal to voters to punish Republicans at the ballot box for advancing Barrett’s nomination so close to the election and selecting a justice like Barrett. In a press conference after the hearing, Democrats urged voters to contact their senators in the hope that a wave of public opposition might flip one Republican vote on the committee and two more in the GOP caucus at large.
“They may win in this committee, they may confirm this justice, but the American people can still stop it if they stand up and they speak out,” Blumenthal said. “Americans you have the power to stop this nomination if you make it known as powerfully as possibly what it means to you.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will spend two days to questioning Barrett on her views and credentials. They will hear from additional witnesses in support of Barrett and against her Thursday. A vote by the committee will take place on or around Oct. 22. That would place the full Senate vote less than two weeks before the election.