Supreme Court: Democrats grill Barrett on abortion, health care
“Absolutely not. I was never asked and if I had been that would’ve been a short conversation,” Barrett said at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But Barrett repeatedly declined to answer questions from Democrats on how she might rule on a range of topics, from next month’s Supreme Court case challenging the Affordable Care Act to Roe v. Wade and the high court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
“It’s distressing not to get a straight answer,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, said after posing a series of questions to Barrett on the Supreme Court’s landmark abortion rulings.
Feinstein pressed Barrett to explain whether she agreed with the late Justice Antonin Scalia that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. Barrett, however, invoked Justice Elena Kagan’s answer that she wasn’t going to grade precedent.
“I completely understand why you are asking the question, but again I can’t pre-commit, or say yes, I’m going in with some agenda, because I’m not. I don’t have any agenda,” Barrett said.
Under questioning from Sen. Pat Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, Barrett would not say whether she would recuse herself from cases involving the 2020 election. Leahy argued Barrett should recuse herself, if confirmed, because Trump has said he’s moving a nomination forward because the election is likely to go before the Supreme Court.
“I have made no pre-commitments to anyone,” Barrett said, arguing the court had a legal process to consider recusal. “I can’t offer an opinion on recusal without short circuiting that entire process.”
Barrett also declined to say whether the Constitution gave Trump the authority to postpone the date of the election. Doing so would require an act of Congress, but Barrett declined to weigh in, saying that doing so would make her “basically a legal pundit.”
The back-and-forth between Democrats and the Supreme Court nominee kicked off what will be a lengthy two-days of questioning, with Democrats seeking to elicit answers from Barrett on a number of controversial topics the Supreme Court could take up, including abortion, gun rights, voting rights, same-sex marriage, and, in particular, health care.
The Supreme Court will hear a case on November 10 on whether to strike down the Affordable Care Act, which means Barrett could be on the bench if Republicans are successful in confirming her before Election Day, November 3. The legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s signature health care law loomed over Tuesday’s hearing: Democrats raised the care that the Affordable Care Act has provided to individuals, continuing their theme from Monday, while Republicans attacked the law.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham kicked off Tuesday’s hearing with a sustained attack on the Affordable Care Act. “From my point of view, Obamacare has been a disaster for the state of South Carolina,” Graham said. “We want something better. We want something different.”
Democratic and Republican senators will have two opportunities Tuesday and Wednesday to question Barrett. All 22 senators on the committee will have a 30-minute period to question the nominee, followed by a 20-minute round of questions.
Graham walked Barrett through her judicial philosophy in the opening round of questions. Barrett explained that she shared a philosophy with Scalia, whom she clerked for, but she argued she would not be an identical justice if she is confirmed.
“If I’m confirmed, you would not be getting Justice Scalia. You would be getting Justice Barrett,” Barrett said. “And that’s so because originalists don’t always agree.”
Graham asked Barrett whether she owned a gun, which she said she did.
“Do you think you could fairly decide a case even though you own a gun?” Graham asked.
“Yes,” she responded.
Partisan battle lines over Barrett’s nomination were quickly drawn on Monday during the first day of hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee as Democrats and Republicans offered up sharply divergent narratives of the high court fight to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
In opening statements delivered on Monday, Republican senators praised Barrett’s judicial qualifications in glowing terms and emphasized her capability as a working mom, while Democrats warned that health care protections and the Affordable Care Act are at stake, and under threat, in the nomination fight.
Republicans, who hold the Senate majority, are moving quickly to fill the vacancy with their sights set on confirmation ahead of Election Day.
Democrats, in the minority, have limited options at their disposal to fight back. But they have been preparing a plan of attack that will focus squarely on issues they believe will resonate with voters while excoriating Republicans for rushing the nomination, an effort designed to avoid a spectacle that could damage their efforts to win back the Senate majority and the White House.
As part of that effort, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have indicated they want to steer clear of questions about whether Barrett’s devout Catholic faith will impact her views, an issue that arose during her 2017 confirmation hearings to sit on a federal appeals court and prompted an uproar among Republicans.
Instead, Democrats want to focus on issues like defending the Affordable Care Act amid a pandemic and their argument that the winner of the November 3 election should select the nominee, a position that polls show clear majorities of voters support.
In opening statements Monday, Democrats stuck to a script that was crafted by members of leadership and Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden weeks ago, a message that Democrats hope will win political support at the polls even if it cannot keep Barrett off the bench.
One after another, Democrats framed the issue in personal terms, sharing concerns from constituents and, in some cases, opening up about their own health conditions.
In contrast, Republicans used their time during Monday’s hearings to highlight Barrett’s qualifications to be appointed to the high court.
Graham described Barrett on Monday as “in a category of excellence,” saying that she is “highly respected” and “widely admired for her integrity.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who like Graham is up for reelection this cycle, told Barrett during the hearing that “folks with widely different judicial philosophies agree that you are brilliant, respectful, kind.”
This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.
CNN’s Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Devan Cole contributed to this report.
