McConnell: 'We Will Be Voting To Confirm Justice-To-Be Barrett Next Monday'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced Tuesday that the Senate will vote next Monday to confirm President Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

“We will be voting to confirm Justice-to-be Barrett next Monday and I think that will be another signature accomplishment in our effort to put on the courts, the federal courts, men and women who believe in a quaint notion that the job of a judge is to actually follow the law,” McConnell said during a press conference after Republicans’ weekly Senate lunch.

The process will begin as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee finishes its recommendations work. The Committee is set to meet Thursday afternoon for a final vote of Barrett’s nomination before it heads to the Senate for a full vote. On Sunday, the Senate will hold a procedural votes, giving senators an additional 30 hours to debate her nomination before the final vote on Monday.

With a 53-47 Republican majority, the GOP can only afford to lose three of those votes, giving Vice President Mike Pence the final vote to break the tie. If three GOP deflects and Pence is needed for a vote, it would be the first time in history a Vice President has cast a vote on confirming a Supreme Court nominee.

So far, only Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has vocally stated that she will vote against Barrett nominee, citing the cries that Democrats have used in saying a Supreme Court nominee should be considered just weeks before Election Day. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) despite saying that a nominee should be taken up before the general election has yet to say how she plans to vote on Barrett’s nomination.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) decried the “farcical” process to “jam” through Trump’s choice, even as the coronavirus outbreak sidelined GOP senators.

“The Republican majority is running the most hypocritical, most partisan and least legitimate process in the history of Supreme Court confirmations,” Schumer said during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.

Just a day ago, Schumer attempted a motion to adjourn the Senate until after the general election, as a desperate effort from Democrats to protest Barrett’s conformation. The minority leader was told his motion was out of order, leading to Schumer to motioned to table his own motion. This means he put up a motion in opposition to his own effort to close down the Senate but forcing senators to go on record regarding the process.

Republicans blocked Schumer’s effort to shut down the Senate until after the presidential election with its motion succeeded 48-42.

“This is the most rushed… most partisan, least legitimate Supreme Court nomination process in our nation’s history — in our nation’s entire history — and it should not proceed. Therefore, I will move to adjourn the Senate until after Nov. 3 election, with the ability to come back into session if there is a bipartisan agreement on a COVID relief package,” Schumer said.

The minority leader has threatened not to “supply quorum” for votes in the Senate as a last-ditch effort to try and block the confirmation. During a press conference Sunday night, Schumer wanted that Senate Democrats as a way to try and block the confirmation with one way being not having Democrats show up to work during the day of the vote.

“We will talk about when the actual vote occurs in committee and on the floor. Democrats will not supply the quorum,” Schumer said during the press conference Sunday. “Period.”

However, Judiciary Democrats signaled they do not intend to boycott Thursday’s vote. It is unknown if such a possibility would occur during the full Senate floor.