On Wednesday, senators get a second chance to press Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett during another questioning round. Yesterday, Democrats spent their time highlighting the deeply-held rights that would be at risk with a Justice Barrett: health care coverage under the ACA, LGBTQ protections, access to legal abortions.
Republicans, seeing their 45-year effort to secure a conservative majority coming to fruition before their eyes, seem to know that Barrett is a lock. So their priority is to limit the political price Democrats are trying to exact for the rush confirmation job. So far, they’ve tried to do that by pretending that the Supreme Court, and Barrett, are “non-political entities” and that we have no way of knowing how she’ll rule from the bench.
Follow along with the hearing below.
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What To Watch
- On Tuesday, Democrats asked Amy Coney Barrett questions about various priorities — the Affordable Care Act, Roe, voting rights — while she cited the “Ginsburg rule,” a phony GOP interpretation of Ginsburg’s words that some nominees have used to get out of answering tricky questions.
- 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.
On Wednesday, senators get a second chance to press Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett during another questioning round. Yesterday, Democrats spent their time highlighting the deeply-held rights that would be at risk with a Justice Barrett: health care coverage under the ACA, LGBTQ protections, access to legal abortions.
Republicans, seeing their 45-year effort to secure a conservative majority coming to fruition before their eyes, seem to know that Barrett is a lock. So their priority is to limit the political price Democrats are trying to exact for the rush confirmation job. So far, they’ve tried to do that by pretending that the Supreme Court, and Barrett, are “non-political entities” and that we have no way of knowing how she’ll rule from the bench.
Follow along with the hearing below.