"Obamacare is on the ballot,” Graham says as he opens ACB hearing
Dems would agree
Graham asks Barrett about severability and the anti-Obamacare lawsuit Supreme Court will hear shortly after the election.
"If you can preserve a statute, you try to, to the extent possible?" he says
"That is true," she responds
Barrett compares severability to a Jenga game, where you pull pieces out and see if it still stands. "Would Congress still want this statue to stand with this provision gone?"
New: Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), a progressive rising star, says she "strongly" disagrees with Sen. Dianne Feinstein about the Amy Coney Barrett hearings huffpost.com/entry/coney-ba…
“I thought it was a very poor set of hearings,” Porter said
I also spoke to Rep. Porter about the Trump admin rejecting CA's request for aid following unprecedented wildfires this year.
She said it's "outrageous" that Trump is coming to the OC this weekend for a $150K/person fundraiser while denying wildfire relief.
"You're just trying to ram through this justice against your own words," Klobuchar tells Graham after he schedules committee vote on Barrett’s nomination on Oct. 22
"It's going to create a lot of bad will that doesn't need to be created," Feinstein warns
Graham cites Reid's 2013 rule change on lower court nominees.
"That set in motion a lot of things that have taken the Senate in the wrong direction," he says
"I would be afraid to ask her about the presence of gravity on Earth because she would decline to answer," Durbin says of Barrett
Jamie Harrison, in what is now a SC candidate forum, and not debate, lauds GOP Sens. Collins, Cornyn, and VP Pence for "being responsible” and getting tested for COVID, while Lindsey Graham "thinks he’s special enough that he can’t"
Harrison says he supports a national mask mandate, adding that Mitch McConnell may feel the same way because "he won't go over to the White House" over their lax coronavirus protocols
Harrison: "Lindsey Graham said, 'Use my words against me, we should not be considering a justice in the fourth year of an election year' and that he would not vote for such justice...what is the word of Lindsey Graham worth?"
Trump says he’s going to sign an executive order extending added federal unemployment benefits at $400 per week. Dems have been pushing to extend at $600/ week
After months of Republican arguments about added unemployment benefits disincentivizing work, preferring instead a wage replacement formula, Trump signs EO extending it at flat 400 for rest of the year. Wonder if any GOP lawmakers push back ...
“He expressed his opinion and it was very powerful and it was a stunning letter.”
Did you agree with him?
“He’s an American patriot with extraordinary service and sacrifice and great judgement.”
Ernst declined to comment.
“I respect Gen. Mattis, I’m the son of a Marine myself, it’s just a very difficult moment here. We need the states, local governments, to ensure they are protecting the safety of people and property,” Daines says