Supreme court pick Amy Coney on way to confirmation after tough hearings

Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett appears certain.

Lindsey Graham on the fourth day of hearings on Amy Coney Barrett. Picture: AFP

Senate confirmation of US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett appeared certain on Friday after four days of hearings that changed no minds and left her majority Republican support intact.

The Senate judiciary committee hashed through her testimony on her conservative record and views on issues such as abortion and the soon-to-be reviewed Affordable Care Act, with the two parties still in disagreement.

Democrat senators made last-minute pitches to Republican colleagues to honour their promises of four years ago not to seat a justice close to a presidential election, saying they would lose public trust if they pushed ahead.

But committee chairman Lindsey Graham underscored the Republican majority on the committee and the full Senate which must approve Judge Barrett. “Elections have consequences,” he said.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett speaks during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. Picture: Getty Images

Senator Graham said the committee would vote on Judge Barrett’s confirmation on October 22, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said the full Senate would begin debate the following day, making likely her final approval days later.

If approved, Judge Barrett would give conservatives on the court a 6-3 majority over progressives. Mr Trump says he wants a judge who will end abortion rights and help kill the ACA, the Barack Obama program that extended health care coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. The court will hear a case on the ACA a week after the November 3 election.

A former law professor at the University of Notre Dame, and a federal appeals court judge for the past three years, the 48-year-old Judge Barrett follows the originalist school of judicial thought and is a devout Catholic.

But over two days of questioning, she avoided expressing her legal views, saying she would not address theoretical issues, but only judge cases as they come, on their own merits.

“There were a lot of questions that were in-bounds that she just refused to answer,” said Democrat Senator Cory Booker.

She also refused to say if she would recuse herself if, she has to review any challenge to the results of the election. Mr Trump wants her in place if the results are fought up to the Supreme Court, as in 2000. “I certainly hope that all members of the committee have more confidence in my integrity than to think that I would allow myself to be used as a pawn to decide the election for the American people,” she said.

Democrats acknowledged that there was not much that could be done to head off her confirmation. “This goose is cooked,” Senator Booker said.

Senator Graham, facing a tough challenge for re-election in South Carolina, acknowledged the tables could be turned completely within weeks. “You all have a good chance of winning the White House,” he said. “The election will come. Winners will be declared. And we get to start over.”

AFP