The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the full Senate.
The vote Thursday morning comes as Senate Democrats boycotted the session, and it clears the way for Barrett’s potential confirmation on Monday.
The panel approved Barrett 12-0, with all Republican members voting yes while the Democrats weren’t in attendance as a form of protest to the process that Sen. Chuck Schumer called “illegitimate.”
Democrats have been urging Republicans to wait for the results of the November presidential election before advancing a nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“We should not be moving forward on this nomination,” Schumer said in a speech late Wednesday.
The decision to boycott forced Republicans on the panel to change its rules to keep the confirmation on track, a move that Democrats were unable to stop given the GOP’s 53-47 Senate majority. Those rules said at least two members of the minority party, Democrats, would need to be present to constitute a quorum for doing business.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that Judge Barrett deserved a vote.
Last straw for me as a Democrat. I appreciated Feinstein’s decorum in the ACB hearing and am disgusted by the party’s criticism of her for speaking her mind. Dems should have been present for the vote. Vote yes or no, but you have a responsibility to vote. I watched the hearings and believe that she’s a strong choice. I believe in the rule of law and the importance of our founding documents.
OUST that Traitor Collins (Republican traitor) from Congress !!!!