Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) proudly affirmed she and her Democrat colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee boycotted Thursday’s vote on Judge Amy Coney Barrett, calling the nomination process a “sham.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Barrett out of committee 12-0 after Democrat committee members, including the vice presidential hopeful, opted to boycott the vote.
“My Democratic Senate colleagues and I boycotted the Supreme Court nominee committee vote today,” she said, repeating debunked party talking points.
“Let’s be clear: this nomination process is a sham and shows how Republicans will stop at nothing to strip health care from millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions,” she added:
In a tweet from her Senate Twitter account late Wednesday, Harris accused the Republican Party of trying to “roll back Americans’ rights” altogether.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg advocated for human rights and equality, stood up for the rights of women, and so much more. Now, everything she fought for is in jeopardy,” she proclaimed.
“Republicans are trying to roll back Americans’ rights by replacing her with someone who will undo her legacy,” Harris warned:
During a campaign trail stop in North Carolina on Wednesday, Harris referred to the entire Supreme Court confirmation process as “illegitimate”:
We’re not talking about election season. We’re not talking about election year. We’re talking about an election that is taking place right now where over 20 million Americans have voted, and the election will be over in 13 days, and the majority of the American people are saying let the American people decide who will be their president and then that is the person who should decide who should fill a lifetime appointment to the highest court in our land.
He also expressed relief the hearings “did not deteriorate as they have in the past and become a circus.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking member on the committee, praised the process as “one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” but civility drew ire from Democrats, some of whom have demanded that she be stripped of her position on the committee.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters he engaged in a “long and serious” discussion with Feinstein, but he did not offer further details of the conversation.
Feinstein joined her Democrat colleagues in skipping the vote and released a statement, asserting Barrett holds views which are “far outside of the judicial mainstream and should disqualify Judge Barrett from being confirmed to the Supreme Court”:
The full Senate is expected to confirm Barrett on Monday, October 26 — the same day as Hillary Clinton’s 73rd birthday.