The Republican-led U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to a lifetime Supreme Court seat despite a Democratic boycott, clearing the way for a final Senate confirmation vote planned for Monday, Reuters informed.
By a 12-0 vote, the panel approved Barrett with all Republican members voting yes and the 10 committee Democrats boycotting the meeting after calling the confirmation process a sham. With Trump’s fellow Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority, Barrett’s confirmation appears certain.
Trump, who asked the Senate to confirm Barrett before the Nov. 3 U.S. election in which he is being challenged by Democrat Joe Biden, applauded the committee vote, writing on Twitter: “Big day for America!”
Barrett, 48, has been a federal appeals court judge since 2017 and previously was a legal scholar at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Her confirmation would give the top U.S. judicial body a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices named by Trump.
“The Senate majority is conducting the most rushed, the most partisan and the least legitimate process in the long history of Supreme Court nominations,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after the vote.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said the Democratic boycott was “their choice.”
“It will be my choice to vote the nominee out of committee. We’re not going to allow them to take over the committee,” Graham said.
The empty seats for the Democratic committee members had posters placed upon them bearing photographs of people who they argue would be hurt if the Affordable Care Act healthcare law, also known as Obamacare, is struck down as Trump has sought in a case to be argued before the justices on Nov. 10.
Barrett, nominated on Sept. 26 to succeed the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has criticized previous rulings upholding Obamacare but said during her confirmation hearing she has no agenda to invalidate the measure.
Democrats were incensed that Senate Republicans moved forward with Barrett’s confirmation process so near an election after refusing in 2016 to allow the chamber to act on a Supreme Court nomination by Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, because it was an election year.
Schumer called the Republican hurry to confirm Barrett “a naked power grab” through a “sham vote,” arguing that Republicans broke the committee’s own rules by approving the nomination without Democrats present.
No nominee to the Supreme Court has ever been confirmed by the Senate this close to a presidential election. More than 45 million ballots already have been cast. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has planned a confirmation vote on the Senate floor on Monday.
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