The Senate could vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court just days before the presidential election
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
- Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Saturday night that the final confirmation vote for Judge Amy Coney Barrett could occur just days before Election Day.
- In an interview with Fox News' Jeanine Pirro, Graham laid out a timeline for the confirmation process, saying he hopes to begin confirmation hearings on October 12, then hold the confirmation vote during the week of October 26.
- Election Day is November 3.
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The United States Senate could vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court just one week before Election Day, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Graham outlined a potential timeline for Barrett's confirmation process in an interview on Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine" on Saturday evening.
He said he's hoping the final confirmation vote on the Senate floor will occur during the week of October 26. Election Day is November 3.
Graham also said he expects the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin four days of confirmation hearings starting on October 12.
—Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) September 27, 2020
"That'd be 16 days from nomination," Graham said. "Monday will be introduction, opening statements, a statement by the nominee. Tuesday and Wednesday will be question days, and Thursday we will begin the markup process."
Trump formally nominated Barrett to the Supreme Court earlier on Saturday afternoon after days of rumors that she was his pick.
If confirmed, Barrett — a staunch conservative who said Saturday she follows the judicial philosophy of the late Justice Antonin Scalia — will fill the seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The timing of the nomination has set off a bitter fight between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats have responded with outrage to Republicans' efforts to confirm a Supreme Court justice so close to a presidential election, when just four years ago Republicans declined to hold hearings during an election year for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland.
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- In a 2016 interview, Amy Coney Barrett discussed how Scalia's replacement would 'dramatically flip the balance of power' on the Supreme Court during an election year
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