Democrats boycott Judiciary Committee Barrett vote

Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the Republicans' rush to install President Donald Trump's nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Never has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee so close to a presidential election.

"We are voting with our feet" said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"We are standing together and we are standing against this unprecedented mad rush to jam through a Supreme Court nomination just days, days before an election."

The Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans powered past a Democratic boycott to advance Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court  nomination to the full Senate, keeping Trump's pick on track for confirmation before Election Day.

"it was in violation of fair play. We believe the American people should have the last word in filling this Supreme Court vacancy, and they will have the last word on November 3rd," said Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin.

"The efforts by Senator McConnell to ignore this pandemic and to move forward with this nomination are inconsistent with the basic principles of this country."

Boycotting Thursday's Judiciary panel session forced Republicans on the panel to adjust its rules to keep the confirmation on track. Those rules say at least two members of the minority party, Democrats, would need to be present to constitute a quorum for doing business.

Republicans said the committee was well within its normal practice to hold the vote, even with Democrats skipping it. Democrats countered that never before have the rules been brushed past for a Supreme Court confirmation.

Republican senators ridiculed the Democratic boycott as election year antics.

Barrett, an appellate court judge from Indiana, appeared for three days before the panel last week, batting back Democrats' questions. She was asked about her approach to legal questions surrounding abortion access, gay marriage and the nation's tradition of a peaceful transfer of presidential power.

Trump has said he wants a judge seated in time to hear any potential disputes arising from the Nov. 3 election, and Barrett declined to say if she would recuse herself from such cases.

Many judicial nominees decline to discuss their views on various issues, saying they will consider the cases as they come. Barrett took a similar approach, drawing deep skepticism from Democrats because she had previously spoken out against abortion and past rulings on the Affordable Care Act.

The court is set to hear a challenge to the health care law on Nov. 10, one week after the presidential election, and Trump has said he wants a justice who won’t rule as others have to uphold the Obama-era Affordable Care Act.

"I join with my colleagues in a great tradition of non-cooperation and boycotts of these proceedings," said New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.

"I also join with them arm in arm, like so many of our ancestors did, and say resolutely, in the words of those whose sacrifices ensured my very presence here, we say we shall overcome."

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