Senate Confirms Amy Coney Barrett To The Supreme Court
On Monday, the Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett just a few days to the November 3 elections. Justice Clarence Thomas administered Barrett's constitutional oath shortly after the 52-48 confirmation vote.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was the only Republican who voted against Barret's confirmation. Sen. Collins argued that the vote should wait until the elections were concluded. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) initially opposed Barrett's confirmation but changed her position at the last minute. Sen. Kamala Harris (D. Calif) took a break from her campaign to oppose the nomination.
At the beginning of the confirmation hearings, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the GOP had the numbers to confirm Barrett with or without the Democrats' support. He also indicated that the Republicans would confirm whoever Trump nominated to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After the vote, the Senate majority leader described Barrett's confirmation as the Trump administration's long-lasting legacy.
"We made an important contribution to the future of this country. A lot of what we've done over the last four years will be undone sooner or later. ... They won't be able to do much about this for a long time to come," he said.
Her confirmation cements the conservative stronghold of the Supreme Court. Barrett's confirmation allows the Conservatives to decide on contentious issues, which have been in the past, bogged down by ideological differences of the individual judges.
Key among them is the second amendment rights and abortion.
Some senators feared that her confirmation voting would affect their chances of re-election. Many Democrats who opposed Justice Kavanaugh's appointment in 2017 lost elections, sparking fears of a repeat of the same.
Similarly, some GOP senators face tough re-election campaigns against Democrats supported by various anti-gun and leftist groups hoping to flip the Senate in favor of the Democratic party.
However, the pressure was higher in Democratic circles because they had no justifiable reason to oppose Barrett's confirmation. However, their party loyalty forced them to oppose her appointment, thus putting them in a tough spot.
Having learned lessons from her 7th Circuit confirmation hearing in 2017, Democrats refrained from raising questions on her faith. However, they recruited mercenaries from the bottom of the barrel Democrats to stir a public debate and divert people's attention from the real issues. This situation would have allowed their opposition to appear genuine and based on the opinions of a section of Americans. However, the debate on Barrett's faith subsided as fast as it surfaced.
Instead, Democrats claimed that Barrett was a threat to the health care system. They argued that her nomination threatened the affordable care act and abortion rights. Speculations suggest that SCOTUS could hear Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban overturned by a federal court. The court will also make an ObamaCare-related ruling just a few days after the elections.
Barrett is among the over 220 judges appointed by Trump since he came into office in 2016. Trump's appointment history puts him behind President Carter as the U.S. president with the most judicial appointments in history.
The desire to change the Supreme Court composition was an important step for the GOP administration to implement the long-overdue judicial reforms.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is pushing universal background checks in our state, and if left unchecked, it will not be long until we see bills like this getting traction in Austin. Texas is embarrassingly ranked 29th for gun rights, and with the help of the political elites in Austin, we will surely rank among New York, California, and Illinois if left to their own devices. Please join our fight today, and help us restore Texas' place as the standard for the U.S.
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