Thursday, October 22, 2020

BREAKING: Judge Barrett Approved by Senate Judiciary Committee

 

Democrats skipped out but were there in spirit, I'm sure

Townhall  "The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court on Thursday morning, on party lines. Democrats on the committee boycotted the vote and their elected duties, but could not prevent Judge Barrett from being confirmed by the committee. The stunt pulled by the committee's Democratic members allowed Judge Barrett's to be approved unanimously." 

"Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham praised Judge Barrett's exemplary qualifications, and glowing endorsements from colleagues, peers and the American Bar Association (ABA). Sen. Graham pointed out that Senate Democrats allowed Judge Barrett's swift confirmation to be possible, by changing Senate threshold rules in 2013.

“ 'Back then, I told Senator Schumer they would regret changing the rules on judges. Today, they will,” he said." . . .    https://twitter.com/i/status/1318984568528130048

Here is Why Judiciary Republicans Broke No Rules in Holding Vote on Judge Barrett as Dems Boycotted

Republicans looking to confirm Judge Barrett on or around Oct. 26    "The Hill reports that Senate Republicans are eyeing a final vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Monday, October 26 — less than a week from today. That timeline isn’t locked down, but Republicans are planning a rare weekend session that would set up a final vote early next week.

"My initial take was that Barrett probably wouldn’t be confirmed before the election (and probably not afterwards, either). I thought that Sens. Collins, Murkowski, and Romney would all oppose her confirmation, and that a random GOP Senator or two, with nothing to lose, would join them. I also wondered whether McConnell could get a vote for Barrett this quickly.

"But Romney immdediately made it clear that he was on board with confirming Barrett. And now, it seems there’s a chance that even Murkowski will vote to confirm her.

"As for timing, I suspect that McConnell and his caucus were highly motivated to get confirmation done because they saw it as a means of saving their Senate majority. They probably recognized that the odds in this election are against them, and that they needed a game changer." . . .

AMY CONEY BARRETT HEARINGS: 6 THINGS TO WATCH  . . . " 'We will talk about when the actual vote occurs in committee and on the floor. Democrats will not supply the quorum," Schumer said. "Period."

"A quorum is the minimum number of members present for a committee or the full Senate to conduct business and hold votes. The quorum in the full Senate is 51 members and the quorum of the Judiciary Committee is nine members including two in the minority party. This means that if one or fewer Democrats show up to the planned Oct. 22 meeting where the Judiciary Committee plans to vote on the Barrett confirmation then they could prevent the committee from reporting the nomination to the Senate. 

"There are ways around this. Most notably, the Senate can vote on a discharge resolution that would remove the responsibility of considering the Barrett nomination from the committee, allowing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to call the nomination for a full vote. " . . .

Republicans Derail Democrats’ Barrett Boycott Plans, Send Chuck Schumer
Scrambling
  "

Der Schumerglower
Democrat plans to derail a Senate Judiciary Committee vote approving Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court ended up in shambles Thursday after Republicans moved up the vote by several hours, leaving Democrats scrambling to respond.

"The vote to recommend Barrett be confirmed to the Supreme Court was scheduled for 1 pm but, after learning that Democrats on the panel planned to boycott the hearing in, moved up the vote to 9 am. Barrett’s nomination was passed out of committee on a party-line vote, 12-0.

"Typically, a Democrat boycott might have forced the Judiciary Committee out of session, since it prevented the formation of a quorum, but Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-CA), allowed for a last-minute rule change, giving Republicans the power to pass Barrett out of committee on a simple majority vote." . . .

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