The White House is planning to hold a swearing-in ceremony on Monday night if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.
The Senate is expected to confirm Barrett ā President Donald Trumpās nominee ā during Mondayās vote as Republicans control the upper chamber. She would succeed liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said, āWe expect for a swearing in to happen later this evening if all goes well,ā according to The Hill.
āWeāre doingā¦the best we can to encourage as much social distancing as possible. Itāll be outdoors if it goes off as planned right now,ā he added. āAnd still continue to do testing in and around those that are critical to the mission to try to get there.ā
The White House chief of staff also pushed back on criticism of a āsuper-spreaderā Rose Garden event in late September where Barrett was nominated.
Meadows said, āThe very first event, while thereās a whole lot of connects that have been made with who was at the event and who came down with it, weāve been able to look at that and track as many as three different areas where the virus actually infected different people within the White House. So it didnāt all come from that particular event.ā
Barrettās confirmation would cement a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. It would also be the quickest a Supreme Court nominee has been confirmed before a presidential election.