Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation has given a 6-3 conservative majority to the bench much to the disappointment of the Democrat leadership which denounced the nomination process as "rushed" and "unprecedented". Later in the day, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the oath of office to the court's new and youngest justice.
Before the event in a rare Sunday session, the Senate's GOP majority voted to limit debate on Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to only 30 hours in order to prevent potential attempts by the Democrats to filibuster the judge's confirmation.
Trump Delivers on His Election Promise, Again
"The confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on 26 October cements Senator Mitch McConnell's place in history as the most effective Senate Majority Leader in a generation, and it hands President Donald Trump a major political victory on the eve of Election Day", says John Plecnik, a professor of law at Cleveland State University.
By picking Barrett, Donald Trump has yet again delivered on his election promise to nominate more conservative judges to the country's courts. Over four years, Trump has nominated and Senator McConnell has confirmed more than 200 federal judges and three Supreme Court Justices, the professor points out, adding that this will "undoubtedly rally his base to vote for four more years".
Although Democrats expressed their vocal dissatisfaction with the Senate majority leader's decision to confirm the new conservative justice before the election, one should bear in mind that the very same Democrats "demanded that Justice Scalia's seat be filled immediately and before the election by President Obama", according to Plecnik.
Barrett is dangerous. Any Senator who’s on the side of the American people would vote against her.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) October 26, 2020
“Today…will go down as one of the darkest days in the 231-year history of the United States Senate,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) claimed on Monday.
Judge Barrett’s academic and professional qualifications are above reproach.
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) October 26, 2020
She has shown a commitment to the law and Constitution, and an even hand in applying the sacred tenets of our democracy.
Democrat vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris even went so far as to condemn the confirmation process as "illegitimate". In response to the statement, McConnell retorted that "legitimacy does not flow from their feelings".
"It seems unlikely that Democrats would try to impeach and remove the conservative Justices of the Supreme Court, because the impeachment of President Trump went so poorly and was so politically unpopular", Plecnik says. "Even suggesting such an extreme position could decimate their party in the mid-term elections".
Likewise, the Democrat Party's proposal to increase the number of the Justices on the Supreme Court, a scheme known as "court packing", is very unpopular with voters, he warns.
Barrett's Appointment Won't Revolutionise the Court
Although Amy Coney Barrett's views have been largely shaped by Catholicism, she is likely to swing the Supreme Court only slightly to the right, according to Plecnik, who believes that she will follow the leadership of Chief Justice John Glover Roberts in upholding past precedents and maintaining a very stable base of constitutional law".
"This may well disappoint conservatives, who want to see a radical change in what has been a very liberal Supreme Court for almost a generation", he remarks.
Barrett's confirmation is nothing short of a "major success for the American people" deems David E. Kenney, a California lawyer.
"Justice Barrett will speak softly in the future and swing gently to the right", the lawyer notes. "Recognising that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a legacy of cases as a champion of discrimination on the basis of sex, Justice Amy Coney Barrett has yet to alter, amend, correct, create, define, and set at liberty her innermost aspirations of the heart and the imagining of her mind within the context of the law".
The Supreme Court will undoubtedly play an important role in case Joe Biden, the Democrats, and the media "by circumstance and happenstance succeed at defrauding the electorate and hijacking the election without triggering insurrection and rebellion", he admits.
However, apart from the potential vote fraud - as well as the issues of abortion, energy, and healthcare which were repeatedly raised by the Democrats during Barrett's hearings - "the real focus of the Supreme Court will be preserving and protecting the resilience and security of our national and international infrastructure", according to the lawyer.
Barrett took her second oath this morning, from Roberts, in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court. She can now start work as a justice. pic.twitter.com/lYo39HOoVK
— Greg Stohr (@GregStohr) October 27, 2020
On Tuesday morning Barrett took her second oath, from Chief Justice Roberts, in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court and is now ready to start her work as a justice.
