By Josh Chang
On Thursday, the Senate wrapped up the fourth and final day of confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
With Barrett’s confirmation a near certainty, Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee aimed to paint opposing pictures of her record and the consequences of her addition to the high court.
Additionally, Democrats argued that the confirmation hearings should not be occurring in the first place due to the proximity to the election, citing the same reasons as Republicans when blocking President Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. Republican Judiciary Committee members moved to schedule a committee vote on Judge Barrett for Oct. 22, which implies plans for a full Senate confirmation vote just eight days before voters will choose the next president.
Through the hours of hearings, Barrett rarely stumbled, although in one exchange she failed to name the five freedoms assured by the First Amendment when asked by a Republican Senator.
Similarly to other recent nominees, the judge avoided questions potentially related to past or future Supreme Court cases, with few exceptions. Overall, the affair was quite civil—Democratic ranking member Dianne Feinstein even went as far as to hug Republican chairman Lindsey Graham in appreciation as the hearings concluded.
The hearings may have acted as a much needed break in a very negative news cycle for the President, but Republicans risked looking hypocritical. They didn’t seem too concerned though, clearly viewing the reward of confirming another conservative justice to be well worth it, especially before a presidential election they don’t think they can win regardless.
