SWEARING-IN AT 9:00 P.M. EDT
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 26, 2020) — Just after 8:00 p.m. EDT Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Trump’s third nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett, in a 52-48 vote.
Barrett’s nomination occurred eight days after a vacancy was created with the passing of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 87.
The vote emerged along strict party lines, with all Democrats voting against Barrett’s confirmation and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who is facing a re-election contest on November 3, also voting against.
Democrats called the process “illegitimate” and during her Barrett’s confirmation hearings, objected to her alleged viewpoints on abortion, in vitro fertilization, same-sex marriage, and the Affordable Care Act, also known colloquially as “Obamacare.” On November 10, a case will be heard on whether or not the individual mandate portion of the bill, which Congress eliminated in 2017, renders the remainder of the Act moot.
Collins and fellow Republican Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) had both publicly objected to the nomination process given that it was made just weeks before a presidential election. Constitutionally, it is one of the president’s responsibilities to nominate federal judges and other “Officers of the United States.”
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is expected to administer Barrett’s oath of office later Monday evening, The New York Post reported.
Barrett’s confirmation came exactly one month after Trump announced her nomination in a Rose Garden ceremony wherein Barrett’s husband and seven children were in attendance.
Within days of the announcement, a number of those who attended tested “positive” for the novel coronavirus, or “COVID-19,” including the president, who was hospitalized from October 2-5.
Barrett had already contracted the virus, The Post additionally reported.
Her swearing-in is scheduled for 9:00 p.m., ABC News said, and in the Rose Garden, according to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on his Monday night show.
After three campaign stops in Pennsylvania, the president is expected to be present at the ceremony, according to the White House’s YouTube channel.
A second oath of office will be administered to Barrett on Tuesday by Chief Justice John Roberts, Fox News reported.