© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Live Blog

Barrett Hearings Day 2: The First Round Of Questioning

by
04.20.21 | 3:54 pm
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 12: Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in on the f... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 12: Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in on the first day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on October 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. With less than a month until the presidential election, President Donald Trump tapped Amy Coney Barrett to be his third Supreme Court nominee in just four years. If confirmed, Barrett would replace the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Photo by Alex Edelman-Pool/Getty Images) MORE LESS

Watch Live

What To Watch

  • Democrats have been struggling to pin Amy Coney Barrett down as she has repeatedly cited the “Ginsburg rule,” a phony GOP interpretation of Ginsburg’s words that some nominees have used to get out of answering tricky questions.
  • That being said, Democrats aren’t necessarily trying to smoke out a controversy here — Barrett is almost certain to end up on the Court. They’re trying to exact the ultimate political price for Republicans’ rush job, and they’re doing it by bringing up social issues people feel strongly about: health care, LGBTQ civil rights, abortion rights, etc.
  • Republicans so far have been impressed by everything about Judge Barrett, from her career to her family to her lack of notes.
  • They have also been outraged at Democrats’ lines of questioning about her views on hot-button issues and independence from Trump, trying to make the argument that she is an entirely blank political slate that no one can guess how she’ll rule.

As senators get their chance to question Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, she’s wriggled out of answers that political and legal observers are particularly concerned about. She refused to commit to recusal on a hypothetical case to decide the November election, dodged on whether she thinks Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and wouldn’t agree that President Trump delaying the election would be unlawful.

Democrats are trying to exact the ultimate political price for Republicans’ rush job, and they’re doing it by bringing up social issues people feel strongly about: health care, LGBTQ civil rights, abortion rights, etc. Republicans, for their part, have also been outraged at Democrats’ lines of questioning about her views on those issues, trying to make the argument that she is an entirely blank political slate and that no one can guess how she’ll rule.

Follow along with the hearing below.