President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will meet with Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham on Tuesday before her confirmation hearings, which are scheduled for mid-October.
Barrett will meet with Graham, who will be in charge of the Senate confirmation hearings for Barrett which start on October 12. She will then meet with a number of other Senators on Capitol Hill, despite several Democratic Senators saying they refuse to even meet with Trump’s nominee. Barret will also reportedly meet with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence.
So far, three Democratic senators have said they refuse to meet with Barrett before the hearings. Those senators include New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono.
“I will not meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett,” Gillibrand tweeted Sunday. “This nomination process is illegitimate,” adding: “I refuse to participate in the further degradation of our democracy and our judiciary.”
Blumenthal sent out multiple tweets Sunday, saying he opposes the confirmation and said it an “illegitimate sham”.
“I will oppose the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as I would any nominee proposed as part of this illegitimate sham process, barely one month before an election as Americans are already casting their votes. Americans deserve a voice in this hugely consequential decision,” Blumenthal said.
“Judge Barrett’s views would harm real lives—real people—in real ways, from children with pre-existing conditions to women who just want to be able to decide when & how to have a family,” Blumenthal continued. “I’m fighting for them.”
Hirono also hinted that she would not meet with Barrett, saying Sunday on CNN “I will take the opportunity to question her when she is under oath,” when asked if she would meet with Barrett.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett speaks after being nominated to the US Supreme Court by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on September 26, 2020. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Every Democrat in the Senate has refused to say whether they support trying to impeach Attorney General William Barr or President Donald Trump before the election in order to block a Supreme Court nominee confirmation, an idea floated by several House Democrats. (RELATED: Senate Democrats Refuse To Say If They Are For Impeaching Attorney General Barr, President Trump To Block Supreme Court Nominee Confirmation)
The Daily Caller contacted every Senate Democrat’s office asking them if they believe Barr or Trump should be impeached before the election in order to block the Trump administration from pushing through a nominee to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Each office was given over 24 hours to respond to the inquiry. The idea has been floated by both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez said that she believed that there has been “an enormous amount of law-breaking in the Trump administration,” after she was asked whether she felt the House should employ impeachment tactics against Trump and Barr, Fox News reported. The New York Democrat then went on to say Barr is “unfit for office” and has “pursued potentially law-breaking behavior.”
“These are procedures and decisions that are largely up to House Democratic leadership,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “But I believe that also we must consider, again all of the tools available in our disposal and that all of these options should be entertained and on the table.”
Before Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, Pelosi appeared on ABC News’ “This Week,” and would not decline impeachment as an option to stop a Supreme Court nominee confirmation. (RELATED: House Democrats Preparing Bill To Impose Term Limits On Supreme Court)
“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now, but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country,” Pelosi said. “This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election.”
Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives are planning to introduce a bill Tuesday that would impose a term limit of 18 years on Supreme Court justices.