Mcconnell: Barrett confirmation to go on
Seeks recess due to concern about spread of virus
Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell said the fast-track schedule for confirming Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee won’t be affected by Covid-19 diagnoses of the president and three Republican senators, despite rising concern about a wider spread of the virus in the government.
Mcconnell said Saturday he’ll seek consent from Democrats to put the Senate on hiatus for the next two weeks, but that the work on confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett will continue.
“The Senate’s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair, and historically supported confirmation process previously laid out” by Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, Mcconnell said in a statement.
Republicans are planning to hold hearings starting the week of Oct. 12 and have a vote before the Nov. 3 election.
The Senate is scheduled for a full session next week. Mcconnell is seeking to put the chamber in a pro forma session, meaning most senators would not have to be in Washington, but committee work wouldn’t be affected. Senators could be called back with 24 hours’ notice for a vote if necessary.
The schedule laid out by Graham would have the committee voting on Barrett’s confirmation by Oct. 22, and Mcconnell has said he would bring it to the full Senate as soon as the panel’s work is done. That would put a final Senate confirmation on the floor about a week before Election Day.
Two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are infected with the coronavirus. A third GOP senator, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, also said he tested positive. Nebraska Republican
Ben Sasse said he’s undergoing more testing after an initial negative test and plans to return to Washington for in-person work starting Oct. 12.
Mcconnell noted committee members can attend hearings remotely and he expected all Republican members to participate.
However, Graham would need the votes of either Lee or Tillis in a committee with a 12-10 GOP edge. Josh Hawley, a third committee member who sat between Tillis and Lee at a Rose Garden ceremony for Barrett a week ago, said he is being tested for the virus and is awaiting results.
Senate rules require a quorum of a majority of the committee - 12 mem
bers - for a final vote on Barrett’s confirmation, and senators must vote in person if their vote will change the outcome, according to a GOP aide.
That would require all of the committee’s Republicans to show up in person for the vote, expected on Oct. 22, if Democrats decide not to show up.