Senate Confirms Trump Nominee for Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett

On Monday, Senate Republicans confirmed President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, in a 52-48 vote. The confirmation gives Trump his third appointment to the nation’s highest court in his first term in office.

It's official: Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/TrIL0OW5Hp

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Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is in a tough battle to retain her seat, was the only Republican to vote against Barrett.

Barrett will give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the court by filling the vacancy left by the liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died in September. Today’s vote comes a day after Democrats unsuccessfully tried to filibuster the nomination.

Democrats made the hypocrisy argument, citing the Republicans’ refusal to give Judge Merrick Garland, who was nominated by then-President Barack Obama in 2016, neither a confirmation hearing nor a vote. Democrats also took issue with the timing of Barrett’s nomination, as it came just days ahead of the 2020 presidential election. They urged Republicans to wait and let voters have a voice in the decision—the same argument Republicans used to deny Obama his choice.

Barrett, at only 48 years old, and who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, is seen by Republicans as a legal superstar who will fight the partisan battles over the Affordable Care Act, abortion and same-sex marriage, all of which could have wide implications.

Astonishingly, the president is scheduled to swear in Barrett at the White House during an outdoor ceremony Monday night. When announcing Barrett as the nominee on the same day one month ago, the White House created a super-spreader event that led to at least 11 attendees testing positive for the virus, including the president.