US Senate confirms Coney Barrett as Supreme Court judge
The United States Senate has confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as Supreme Court Judge
The confirmation on Monday was regarded as a major victory for the President and his party.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is in a tough reelection fight, was the only GOP senator to cross party lines and vote with Democrats against the nomination after having expressed concerns that it’s too close to Election Day to consider a nominee.
Barrett was sworn in on Monday night as a Supreme Court justice at a ceremony on the south lawn of the White House.
A number of Republican senators were seen in the audience including Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
According to reports, Barrett, who is 48 years old, is likely to serve on the court for decades and will give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, a shift in its makeup that could have dramatic implications for a range of issues that could come before it, including the future of the Affordable Care Act and any potential disputes regarding the 2020 election.
“By any objective standard, Judge Barrett deserves to be confirmed to the Supreme Court.
“The American people agree. In just a few minutes, she’ll be on the Supreme Court,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
Justice Clarence Thomas will administer the official Constitutional Oath to Barrett at the White House, a senior White House official said.
Barrett’s nomination prompted a series of questions surrounding the institution of the Supreme Court, as Democrats accused Republicans of hypocritically supporting Barrett’s nomination after opposing that of Judge Merrick Garland’s in 2016.
Former Vice President Joe Biden indicated on Monday that he might be open to shifting Supreme Court justices to lower courts if elected president, noting that he hadn’t made any “judgement” yet on the issue.
“There is some literature among constitutional scholars about the possibility of going from one court to another court, not just always staying the whole time in the Supreme Court but I have made no judgement,” Biden said at a campaign stop in Chester, Pennsylvania.
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