Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation Hearings To Begin Oct. 12, Sen. Lindsey Graham Says
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Saturday that confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett are scheduled to begin Oct. 12.
“That’d be 16 days from nomination,” Graham told Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, adding that confirmation hearings for 24 of the 42 Supreme Court justices were held within 16 days of their nominations.
He said opening statements from the committee and Barrett will take place on Oct. 12, a Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday of that week will allow committee members to question Barrett before the committee begins the markup process on Thursday.
Graham said he hopes to “get her out of the committee” by Oct. 26.
“That’d be up to [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell what to do after that,” Graham told Pirro when asked when the full Senate would potentially vote on whether to confirm Barrett.
During an interview Sunday on Fox News, Graham said he expects to report out the committee’s recommendation on Barrett on Oct. 22, less than two weeks before Election Day.
President Donald Trump nominated Barrett on Saturday to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. If confirmed, she would be the youngest justice on the bench and would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority.
Barrett has a judicial record of being against abortion access, startling women’s rights activists who fear her confirmation could lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a woman’s right to an abortion under the Constitution.
Democrats have accused Republicans of being hypocrites in their efforts to push through Barrett’s confirmation before the Nov. 3 election. In 2016, McConnell blocked Merrick Garland, then-President Barack Obama’s pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, from ever having a confirmation hearing.
McConnell said at the time that Garland’s confirmation would have been too close to the 2016 presidential election and that whoever won that...
