Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate confirmation hearings continue on Thursday.
Outside witnesses will testify for and against Barrett.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates.
All times Eastern.
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2:17 PM: Graham concludes the hearing after saying again that out of all the judges that have come before the committee, Barrett is the most amazing human being he has ever encountered.
2:08 PM: Coons and Clarke discussing potential affirmative action cases that are in the pipeline. Clarke says “what’s at stake here is the principle of racial diversity,” and she thinks Barrett will “turn back decades of progress” and will result in college and universities that won’t be “diverse.” Clarke also tells Coons voter suppression is alive in well in places like Texas and Georgia.
1:52 PM: Booker and Clarke discussing Miranda, criminal justice issues, debtor’s prisons, and teenagers stuck in the criminal justice system even though they have not been convicted of anything. He says there are thousands of cases of young people being churned into the system and criticizes Barrett about not knowing about these issues.
1:42 PM: Hirono gives Clarke to say Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is not a substitute for Section 5’s pre-clearance provision when discussing burden-shifting. On worker’s rights, Hirono gives Clarke an opportunity to say that Barrett has shown that she will side with corporations over workers.
1:36 PM: Blumenthal says he is concerned originalism is a “smokescreen” conservative judges used to be activists and tells Clarke that he is concerned Barrett will strike down gun-control laws. Clarke says it will be more likely that Barrett will expand an individual’s rights to own guns and less likely to uphold restrictions on guns.
12:59 PM: Committee will take a break for lunch, as they are having some problems with the technology.
12:45 PM: Durbin railing against originalism and allowing Clarke to say Barrett’s strict adherence to originalism will turn the country backwards.
12:27 PM: Laura Wolk, Barrett’s former student and first blind law clerk in the Supreme Court, testifying about how she was able to let the mask slip in front of Barrett and poured out all of her concerns about technology and all of the burdens she carried as a disabled woman navigating a new world. She says Barrett told her that “this is no longer your problem. This is my problem.” Wolk says it is hard to trust an offer of assistance because many don’t follow through, but this was not true of Barrett. She says to this day she does not know what Barrett did but the technology she needed arrived and this allowed her to eventually become a clerk on the Supreme Court (Thomas). She says through Barrett’s mentorship, Barrett has given her the gift to live an abundant life with the potential to break down barriers.
12:20 PM: Amanda Rauh-Bieri, Barrett’s former law clerk, says from the very beginning she saw Barrett exhibit the qualities that make her an exceptional judge. She says Barrett never takes shortcuts and takes seriously the views of her law clerks and created a culture that allowed her clerks to express differing opinions and be curious and humble about the law and life. She says Barrett’s impact on her life runs far deeper than legal training.
12:12 PM: Stacy Staggs, the community engagement director of the Little Lobbyists Committee, says she is here to raise her voice against Barrett’s nomination and in support of Obamacare. She says a vote for Barrett is a vote to take away health care and to strike down the law that saved the lives of her daughters.
12:11 PM: Crystal Good talks about being sexually abused by her stepfather and needing an abortion. She says Trump has been clear Trump would only appoint justices who would overturn Roe and she understands why Trump believes Barrett passes the test. She says she could not have the Appalachian family she has today had she not gotten an abortion.
12:01 PM: University of Virginia Law Professor Saikrishna Prakash says Barrett is uber-qualified and an institutionalist and an orginalist, which he says is a good thing. He says Barrett is an institutionalist who does not want to burn the whole thing down and will not do anything that will put the Supreme Court in disrepute.
11:56 AM: Kristin Clarke, the president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, says her group has conducted an extensive review of Barrett’s writings and speeches and her views are “far out of the mainstream.” She says Barrett this week would not say whether voter intimidation is illegal though outlawed by the Voting Rights Act. She also rips Barrett for not saying whether voting discrimination still exists. Clarke says even Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his Shelby opinion that nobody doubts that voting discrimination exists.
11:50 AM: Retired judge Thomas Griffith says it is disturbing that many believe judges will cast votes based on partisan affiliation and that undermines the public’s confidence in the judiciary. He is making the case that the record shows that Barrett has been an impartial judge who applies the law regardless of whether it coincides with her personal beliefs.
11:45 AM: First up is Dr. Farhan Bhatti, CEO of Care Free Medical. Most of his patients are Medicare recipients. He is talking about 750,000+ people who got access to coverage after the Medicaid expansion. He is speaking about patients whose lives were saved by Obamacare and how so many could go into bankruptcy if Obamacare is taken away, especially after the COVID pandemic.
11:41 AM: Next round starting with eight witnesses–six will testify virtually.
11:35 AM: Coons rips Trump not appointing black judges and says her answers about not having read anything on implicit bias led him to wonder if we needed people with more diverse life experiences on the court. Noel says he heard nothing that would indicate Barrett had any “malady.”
Cornyn says Barrett’s family is racially diverse and she doesn’t need anyone lecturing her about diversity.
11:16 AM: Randall Noel telling the committee about the ABA’s highest rating for Barrett. He is describing the standing committee’s process and how it came about giving Barrett the highest well-qualified rating.
Pamela Roberts, the lead evaluator, speaking about Barrett’s integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament. She is reading descriptions about Barrett’s integrity and comments from her peers about how Barrett is an “intellectual giant” who is “whip smart.”
Both agree they would have no problems going before judge Barrett.
10:58 AM: Committee taking roll call vote on Blumenthal’s motion to suspend the hearings. Motion fails along partisan lines. Now the committee is moving on to the first panel, which is the ABA panel.
10:51 AM: Whitehouse, perhaps hinting of things to come if Democrats take back both chambers of Congress and the White House, warns Republicans their ability to make the argument that someone shouldn’t do something just because they can will die in the committee room if Barrett is confirmed.
Whitehouse says they have concerns about Barrett and Obamacare because of what Trump has said.
“He’s your president,” he says. “Why shouldn’t we take him at his word?”
10:29 AM: Booker, after joking that his comment will offend the committee’s other vegan (Booker names Cruz), he says he realizes the “goose is cooked” here. Booker says Barrett is obviously not a racist but it is not out of bounds to ask her questions about race. He says there were lots of questions that were in bounds that Barrett refused to answer. Booker said it was stunning that Barrett would not answer if she believed in the peaceful transfer of power. He rips Trump for saying he could only lose if the election is rigged and says he fears violence at the polls in November. Booker worries about a Constitutional crisis and says the greatest acts in history occurred when people had the authority to do something and showed restraint.
10:19 AM: Coons is concerned about Barrett’s originalism and how she will “open a new chapter of conservative judicial activism unlike anything we’ve seen in decades.” Coons says she could cast the deciding vote to overturn Obamacare. Coons says he thinks the country’s democracy is at risk in this election.
Kennedy says he he hasn’t met a dummy yet in the Senate and they are the most interesting people he has ever been around. He now asks Coons to talk to Schumer and he’ll talk to McConnell and says they should agree to proceed to the bill and start the amendments process.
10:07 AM: Hirono now also calling the process illegitimate and says it is clear Barrett will take away Obamacare.
Cornyn says he is having trouble figuring out why Barrett threatens Democrats. He wonders if it is because Democrats only want judges who will legislate from the bench. He rips Democrats for being accustomed to having the Supreme Court bailing them out when they can’t win in Congress or get legislation passed.
10:03 AM: Kennedy asks if Blumenthal will yield for a question. He says Blumenthal accused Kennedy of breaking his word and asks when he promised that he would not vote on a Supreme Court nominee if brought before the committee. He says the Constitution is unaffected by the electoral calendar when it comes to filling vacancy.
Blumenthal says he was not referring to specific members, but he says Graham did. Blumenthal says he is not saying that Kennedy specifically broke his word and then says we shouldn’t be personal in these hearings. He says there were numerous statements when Garland was denied hearings/votes.
Blumenthal says he was personally not referring to Kennedy when asked again. Graham says he does not take Blumenthal’s remarks personally.
Klobuchar says she has 15 quotes from Republicans that she will put in the record.
9:55 AM: Blumenthal now speaking again. He says he wants a roll call vote on his motion to suspend the hearings indefinitely after everyone gets a chance to speak. He says there are very few written rules in the Senate and the most important rule is the unwritten rule of keeping your word/promises. He says Republicans promised after Garland that “never would a Supreme Court nominee be considered in an election year.” Blumenthal accuses Republicans of “breaking that word.”
9:47 AM: Leahy, attending the hearing virtually, finally gets to speak. He says we are now officially through the looking glass and says Graham should stick to what he said about Merrick Garland’s nomination.
Leahy says Trump says the quiet part out very loudly and points out that Trump wants Barrett on the Supreme Court because he has said he wants the the next justice to side with him on election-related disputes. He says Republicans have shredded every principle the Senate once stood for.
9:41 AM: Klobuchar again talking about following Barrett’s tracks. Graham points out that Ginsburg and Scalia left tracks as well. He says Barrett is the type of nominee Republicans nominate just like Sotomayor and Kagan are the types Democrats nominated. He says he doesn’t think Kagan and Sotomayor are “activist judges.”
Graham then says Democrats have a “good chance at winning the White House.”
9:34 AM: Lee says elections have consequences. Americans elected Republican president in 2016 and, after the Kavanaugh hearings, elected a Republican Senate. He says there is nothing about Barrett that can be left as suggesting that she is anything other than an extraordinarily gifted jurist.
9:31 AM: Graham says if anybody is ready to go to the Supreme Court it is judge Barrett and he accuses Democrats of just trying to get back at Trump.
9:24 AM: Durbin now speaking about the “denigration of the process” to the point that is is useless. He says nominees now just skillfully refuse to answer everything that is asked. Durbin says Barrett didn’t even answer if a president can unilaterally delay an election or if women can be denied the right to vote. Durbin says the nomination is beneath the dignity of the committee.
9:16 AM: Cruz making the case that moving forward is consistent with two centuries of precedent. He jokes that he sympathizes with Democrats who wish there had been a different presidential winner in 2016.
9:12 AM: Feinstein says this is being done to “show power” and “push someone through.” She says she has been on the committee for 25 years and this is “unprecedented.”
9:08 AM: Klobuchar says she has looked at historical examples and has concluded that the winner of this election should pick the next nominee. Democrats are trying to gum up the process. Graham seems beyond annoyed. She calls the process a “sham.”
9:05 AM: Blumenthal now motions to indefinitely postpone. Graham basically says “no we’re not.”
9:01 AM: Graham taking care of some housekeeping business before gaveling in the proceedings. Durbin says Graham cannot continue, even with a quorum, unless there are two members from the minority party presents. Durbin says he is the only member of the minority party present at the moment.
Durbin says Graham cannot conduct business unless two members of the minority are present. He moves to adjourn the hearing and says the committee cannot move forward with two members of the minority present.
Graham moves forward and asks the clerk to take the roll. Graham says the motion is passed and the committee will vote on Barrett’s nomination on October 22.
8:55 AM: The final day of hearings about to begin.