Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination goes to full Senate

With Democrats refusing to show up for the vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote before Election Day.

"This is a groundbreaking, historic moment," said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the committee chairman. "We did it."

All 12 Republicans on the panel voted in favor of Barrett, a conservative judge. Democrats displayed posters at their desks of Americans they say have benefited from the Affordable Care Act now being challenged in the high court.

The final confirmation vote is expected Monday. With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, Trump's third pick for the court is almost certain to be confirmed. All Democrats are expected to oppose Barrett's confirmation.

Unable to stop the confirmation, Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to stall the process so the winner of the Nov 3 presidential election could name the new nominee.

Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the Republicans' rush to install Barrett, 48, to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Democrats say that the Affordable Care Act — known as Obamacare — will be in jeopardy if Barrett, a US Court of Appeals judge in the Midwest, joins the court, giving conservatives a 6-3 voting majority. The court will hear a Trump-backed case against the law on Nov 10.

They also have said that the new court would threaten abortion access, gay marriage and even the results of the presidential election.

At a news conference, Democrats decried what they called a "sham" confirmation process.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate Republican majority "is conducting the most rushed, most partisan and the least legitimate nomination to the Supreme Court in our nation's history".

"Democrats will not lend a single ounce of legitimacy to this sham vote," he said.

Democratic presidential nominee  Joe Biden said that if he is elected, he will form a bipartisan commission to recommend changes to the Supreme Court. He made his comments in in a one-minute released clip from his CBS 60 Minutes interview.

Biden has declined to answer whether he would expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court, commonly referred to as "court packing".

Some progressive members of the Democratic Party have said that if Biden is elected and their party wins the Senate, he should add liberal justices to the court.