Amy Coney Barrett Confirmed To Supreme Court

On Monday evening (October 26), the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the Associated Press reports.

Barrett was confirmed by a slim 52-48 vote, along mostly party lines, with one Republican — Susan Collins of Maine — joining the chamber’s 47 Democrats in voting against the nomination. Barrett will be sworn in at an outdoor White House ceremony on Monday evening (October 26).

Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris of California was among the “no” votes:

Barrett’s confirmation gives conservatives a 6-3 majority on the bench. Her nomination created controversy as it violated Republican senators’ own precedent from 2016, when they refused confirmation hearings for President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

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Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited that Garland’s nomination came during an election year, and therefore voters should decide on the next president to make the next judicial nomination. Scalia’s death and Garland’s nomination came nearly 300 days before the next election, while Barrett was nominated just 40 days before this year’s November 3 election when voting was already underway. Barrett was nominated by President Donald Trump after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September.

Barrett, 48, becomes the fifth woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Once sworn in, she’ll likely be able to hear cases as early as next week, including a challenge to the Affordable Care Act that Democrats worry will upend health care for millions of people.

Trump officially announced Barrett’s nomination on Saturday (September 26) in a White House Rose Garden event that came to be known as a COVID-19 super-spreader event.