The Republican-led Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as a justice to the Supreme Court, drawing expected backlash from Democratic lawmakers.
Throughout the confirmation process, Democrats blasted President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans for pushing through a nominee shortly before the 2020 presidential election. Barrett succeeded late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her confirmation cements a conservative majority on the highest court in the land.
After Barrett was confirmed late Monday, on a 52-48 vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blasted Trump and Senate Republicans, saying they “have committed an act of supreme desperation by jamming through a Supreme Court justice — all so that they can achieve their years-long campaign to destroy Americans’ health care.”
Barrett’s confirmation and swearing-in ceremony were eight days before Election Day held on Nov. 3.
Pelosi continued, “Now, Americans must continue to make their voices heard in the election. Congress will have to reverse the damage of a radical Republican court and defend pre-existing condition protections together with every other benefit and protection of the Affordable Care Act.”
“The President’s Supreme Court manipulation threatens the very values and rights that define and distinguish our nation: a woman’s constitutional right to make her own medical decisions, the rights of LGBTQ Americans, the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain for fair wages, the future of our planet and environmental protections, voting rights and the right of every American to have a voice in our democracy.”
“We must have a Congress that is prepared to remedy what the Supreme Court will do to undermine the health, financial security and well-being of American families,” Pelosi concluded her statement.
The President’s Supreme Court manipulation threatens the very values and rights that define and distinguish our nation. #SCOTUS
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 27, 2020
Read my full statement here: https://t.co/PmyOgtBFjo
The House speaker also spoke about Barrett’s confirmation on MSNBC Monday evening:
"All that that means for pre-existing conditions, people who need access to quality affordable care…they're coming after you," Speaker Pelosi says discussing, Senate's confirmation of Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court 15 days ahead of oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act. pic.twitter.com/5iFBQ8MdtE
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 27, 2020
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also blasted his Republican colleagues, tweeting, “The truth is: This nomination is part of a decades-long effort to tilt the courts towards the right to accomplish through the courts what Republicans could never accomplish through Congress.”
He added, “Democrats will never stop fighting for Americans’ health care, rights and freedoms.”
See Schumer’s tweets below:
Today will go down as one of the darkest days in the Senate's 231-year history
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 26, 2020
The Senate GOP is thwarting the will of the people and confirming a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court in the middle of a presidential election
Democrats will never stop fighting for Americans
Senate Republicans are breaking 231 years of precedent and becoming the first majority to confirm a Supreme Court Justice this close to a presidential election day.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 26, 2020
Democrats will never stop fighting for Americans’ health care, rights, and freedoms.
It is a lie that Senate Republicans are merely following their own standard.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 26, 2020
What is the real reason Republicans are so desperate?
President Trump vowed to only pick justices who would “terminate” our health care law.
Democrats will never not stop fighting for health care.
A warming planet. Workers falling behind. Dark money flooding politics. The curtailing of the right to choose. The limiting of voting rights.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 26, 2020
Those are the consequences of this nomination.
We will never not stop fighting for the health care, lives, and freedoms of Americans.
The truth is:
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 26, 2020
This nomination is part of a decades-long effort to tilt the courts towards the right to accomplish through the courts what Republicans could never accomplish through Congress
Democrats will never stop fighting for Americans’ health care and rights and freedoms
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also weighed in, saying in a statement, “The rushed and unprecedented confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as Associate Justice to the Supreme Court, in the middle of an ongoing election, should be a stark reminder to every American that your vote matters.”
However, in contrast, Trump celebrated Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
At the swearing-in ceremony, the president said, “The Barrett family has captured America’s heart. It is highly fitting that Justice Barrett fills the seat of a true pioneer for women, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
Barrett also said in her brief remarks, “The oath that I have solemnly taken tonight means at its core I will do the job without fear or favor and do it independently of the political branches and of my own preferences.”
