Senate Judiciary Democrats to Chairman Graham: Delay Supreme Court Nomination

Masooma Haq
By Masooma Haq
October 1, 2020Politics
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Senate Judiciary Democrats to Chairman Graham: Delay Supreme Court Nomination
Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) makes an opening statement during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020. (Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee formally requested Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) delay the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court until after the Nov. 3 election, citing insufficient time for review.

Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) led her Democratic colleagues to write a letter to Graham, urging Republicans to change the timeline for Barrett’s confirmation because it “is a sharp departure from past practices.”

“Even more, it undercuts the Senate’s ability to fulfill its advice and consent role and deprives the American people of a meaningful opportunity to gauge the nominee and her record for themselves,” Feinstein wrote.

“The timeline for consideration of Judge Barrett’s nomination is incompatible with the Senate’s constitutional role,” the Democrats on the committee added. “We again urge you to delay consideration of this nomination until after the presidential inauguration. The Senate and the American public deserve a deliberative, thorough process, and this falls far short.”

In addition to Feinstein, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory A. Booker (D-N.J.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) signed the letter sent to Graham on Wednesday.

Graham told Fox News’ ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ on Sept. 27 that Barrett’s confirmation hearing will start mid-October and that more than half of Supreme Court justices who’ve had hearings were conducted within 16 days or less.

“So, we’ll start on the 12th of October, we’ll have a day of introduction, we’ll have two days of questioning Tuesday and Wednesday, and on the 15th we’ll begin the markup we’ll hold it over for a week and we’ll report her nomination, are the committee on October 22,” Graham said.

“It will be up to Senator McConnell as to what to do with the nomination once it comes out of committee,” said Graham.  He said McConnell will schedule a floor vote after receiving the Judiciary committee report.

NTD Photo
Seventh U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, second from left, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, is escorted to the Senate by Vice President Mike Pence, second from right, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, right, and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, left, as she begins a series of meetings to prepare for her confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 29, 2020. (Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images)

Senate Democrats have repeatedly objected to the nomination of a Supreme Court justice before Election Day and have called on Republicans to wait until after the public chooses the next president and new Congress, giving Democrats a chance to change the outcome of the Supreme Court make up.

On Monday, Barrett began meeting with individual senators to allow for senators to ask her questions and get to know her first-hand.

A number of Democrat senators, including Blumenthal, Hirono, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) refused to meet with the judge, calling the nomination process “illegitimate” and “a power grab.”

Other Democrats, including Booker, said they will meet with her to discuss key questions.

“I think you know my spirit, which is to sit down and meet with people and talk to them. And I’m going to make it very clear. One of the things I want to ask her is will she recuse herself in terms of any election issues that come before us because if she does not recuse herself, I fear that the court will be further delegitimized,” Booker told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

In addition to the senators’ and the FBI vetting, The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary will evaluate the nominee and rate Barrett’s professional qualifications.

Barrett provided a 65-page questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee on her legal and professional history. She also turned in hundreds of documents related to her writings and legal opinions.

Epoch Times reporter Jack Philipps contributed to this report

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