NEW: Trump's words haunt Amy Coney Barrett as she vows not to be a 'pawn' on Supreme Court
Tension at this hearing is between a nominee who insists she'd be an independent judge and a president who has linked his court picks to particular policy outcomes. nbcnews.com/politics/supre…
Trump and/or GOP platform have pointedly said his Supreme Court appointments would stand against Obamacare, abortion and same-sex marriage. Confronted with this, Barrett repeatedly pledged her independence and declined to comment on the president's tweets. nbcnews.com/politics/supre…
"I am my own person," Amy Coney Barrett says. "I'm independent under Article III. I don't take orders from the executive branch or the legislative branch."
In a long day of questioning, Amy Coney Barrett was repeatedly asked to explain why she couldn’t be relied on to carry water for a president who has made all but clear he expects that of his judicial appointments.
Day 3 is underway (please mute this thread if you don't want regular updates!). @LindseyGrahamSC opens by rebutting this remark from @KamalaHarris yesterday accusing Barrett of being less forthcoming than RBG was.
"Obamacare is on the ballot," Lindsey Graham says, lamenting that Democrats are making the Supreme Court hearing more about ACA than ACB.
"The presumption is always in favor of severability," Amy Coney Barrett says, discussing the issue at the heart of the anti-ACA case. "It's a question of your intent."
Asked if judges try to preserve a statute to the extent possible, Barrett says: "That is true."
SCOTUS hearings Day 2 is underway: Lindsey Graham opens by calling Obamacare a "disaster" for South Carolina. He says they don't want Obamacare, they want "South Carolinacare."
Lindsey Graham makes his continued opposition to the ACA explicit at the outset. "We on this side do not believe Obamacare is the best way to provide quality health care."
Amy Coney Barrett on originalism: "That means that I interpret the Constitution as a law... I understand it to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it. That meaning doesn't change over time and it's not up to me to update it or infuse my policy views into it."
Mitch McConnell defends the Senate’s response to the coronavirus, blames Pelosi for the failure of a post-CARES deal: “I know how to make deals. I made three major deals with Joe Biden during the Obama era,” he says.
In Kentucky, Mitch McConnell says Obamacare is safe while defending Amy Coney Barrett: “No one believes the Supreme Court is going to strike down the Affordable Care Act.”
Amy McGrath doesn’t say if she favors expanding the Supreme Court.
Lindsey Graham and Dianne Feinstein chat before the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court hearings begin.
.@LindseyGrahamSC notes that Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia were confirmed near unanimously and laments that those days are over.
Lindsey Graham: "This is an election year. We're confirming a judge in an election year after the voting has occurred." Reversing himself from previous years where he said he wouldn't do this. He says it may be unprecedented in some ways but it's not unconstitutional.
But some donors and operatives wonder if the White House is lost and it's time to steer resources to saving congressional seats. Senate races like SC/KS are suddenly a concern. House minority may shrink.
“In 2016, the president was a buoy. In 2020, he’s more of an anchor. There’s no question there are going to be losses down the ballot,” says former NRCC operative @Ken_Spain.