Senate Confirms Trump Nominee for Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett

On Monday Senate Republicans confirmed President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett in a 52-48 vote. The confirmation gives Trump his third appointment to the nation’s highest court in his first term in office.

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is in a tough battle to retain her seat, was the only Republican to vote against Barrett.

Barrett will give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the court by filling the vacancy left by the liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died in September. Today’s vote comes a day after Democrats unsuccessfully tried to filibuster the nomination.

Democrats made the hypocrisy argument, citing the Republican’s refusal to give Judge Merrick Garland, who was nominated by then-President Barack Obama in 2016, neither a confirmation hearing nor a vote. Democrats also took issue with the timing of Barrent’s nomination, as it came just days ahead of the 2020 presidential election. They urged Republicans to wait and let voters have a voice in the decision—the same argument Republicans used to deny Obama his choice.

At only 48 years old Barrett, who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, is seen by Republicans as a legal superstar who will fight the partisan battles over the Affordable Care Act, abortion and same-sex marriage, all of which could have wide implications.

Astonishingly, the president is scheduled to swear-in Barrett at the White House during an outdoor ceremony tonight. When announcing Barrett as the nominee on the same day one month ago, the White House created a super-spreader event that led to at least 11 attendees testing positive for the virus, including the president.

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