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Senate Panel Wraps Confirmation Hearings for Trump's Supreme Court Pick

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee heard arguments
   Thursday supporting and opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court
   nominee Amy Coney Barrett as the panel finishes four days of hearings
   to fill a vacancy on the country's highest court.
   Democrats invoked committee rules to push off a final vote by the panel
   on Barrett's nomination until next Thursday. A vote in the full Senate
   could come by the end of the month, just days ahead of the Nov. 3
   national presidential and congressional elections.
   Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in his
   home state of Kentucky, "We have the votes" to confirm the nomination
   of the 48-year-old Barrett. McConnell said the full Senate would start
   consideration of her nomination on Oct. 23.
   Barrett would be the fifth woman ever to serve on the court. She
   currently is a federal appellate court judge whose lifetime Supreme
   Court appointment by President Donald Trump would give conservatives a
   distinct 6-3 ideological advantage on the high court, likely affecting
   the outcome of U.S. legal disputes for decades.
   Barrett answered lawmakers' questions for hours on Tuesday and
   Wednesday. On Thursday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers called
   witnesses to buttress their case for and against Barrett's
   confirmation.
   Two members of the American Bar Association's standing committee on the
   federal judiciary testified about their positive evaluation of Barrett
   as "well qualified" to serve on the Supreme Court.

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