President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett repeatedly declined to answer questions about her views or abortion and Obamacare, frustrating Democrats at the beginning of the second day of her confirmation hearings politico.com/news/2020/10/1…
Barrett also refused to say whether she agrees with her mentor, Justice Antonin Scalia, that Roe v. Wade — the landmark 1973 abortion case — was wrongly decided, noting that there are ongoing cases related to abortion laws politi.co/3lIAL3v
“If I express a view on a precedent one way or another … it signals to litigants that I may tilt one way or another on a pending case,” Barrett told the panel politi.co/3lIAL3v
Barrett says she did not make any “pre-commitments” to the president on specific issues because such actions would “undermine judicial independence” politi.co/3lIAL3v
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With just three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, the future of the Affordable Care Act has been a major focus of Barrett’s hearing politico.com/news/2020/10/1…
Democrats have argued that Barrett’s confirmation would all but seal the demise of the health care law. Multiple senators have noted that Barrett has previously criticized Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision to uphold Obamacare. politico.com/news/2020/10/1…
The White House will be won or lost in these eight battleground states – and Biden is leading in all but one politi.co/3nOwFZB
In Arizona, Trump’s handling of the pandemic is proving costly, leaving him struggling to match his 2016 performance among those over the age of 65 politi.co/2Iywz8p
Republicans typically hold a slight edge in absentee ballot returns in Florida elections. But this year, for the first time ever at this stage of a general election, Democrats here are outvoting Republicans — and by a huge margin politi.co/371R9YV
When Trump decided to delegate the pandemic response to the states, he gave them a chance to call their own shots. Here are 8 lessons from the states best battling the coronavirus politico.com/news/2020/10/1…
Few states have a record as unblemished as Vermont. The state:
• reopened slowly
• gave local governments authority to set their own stricter rules
• requires a two-week quarantine for people arriving from places with higher infection rates politi.co/2SXp0tu
Washington state shows larger urban centers can mount an effective defense against the virus with rapid coordination and an early focus on vulnerable populations politi.co/2SXp0tu
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett suggested this morning that the Affordable Care Act might be able to withstand a challenge from the Trump administration, placing Obamacare once again at the forefront of the Supreme Court confirmation fight politico.com/news/2020/10/1…
Barrett extended an olive branch to Dems who asserted that she would side with the Justice Dept. in its effort to invalidate the ACA. She said judges’ “presumption” should “always” be that the rest of a law can stand even when a key portion is repealed politi.co/34VJKrj
The hearings to consider Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court officially kicked off yesterday with opening statements, giving us a preview of strategy in the confirmation battle politi.co/34VRt8T
But the real action will happen today, when the first round of questioning begins. Here are the top five storylines to watch: politi.co/34VRt8T
1. Do vulnerable Republicans seize the spotlight or stumble?
The handful of endangered GOP lawmakers on the committee up for reelection will be pulled away from the campaign. But the hearings offer a high-profile platform to have a viral moment. politi.co/34VRt8T
Joe Biden has reached 270 electoral votes for the first time since POLITICO’s Election Forecast debuted late last year politi.co/2GINTHf
In addition to a double-digit national lead, Biden has built a stable advantage in the three Great Lakes States that put Donald Trump over the top in 2016: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin politi.co/2GINTHf
Our latest presidential-race ratings now have Biden favored in enough states — including Wisconsin, which we’ve moved from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic”— to clinch the presidency politi.co/2GINTHf