Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vowed Friday that the full Senate will vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court “no mater than Monday.”

McConnell’s remark came as Democrats protested Barrett’s imminent confirmation by forcing the Senate into rare closed session that lasted for roughly 15 minutes.

“I believe the Senate majority is on the precipice of making a colossal and historic mistake by rushing this nomination through the Senate only eight days before a national election,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lamented. “Before we go any further, we should shut off the cameras, close the Senate and talk face-to-face about what this might mean for the country.”

“The Republican majority is steering the Senate, the Supreme Court and the country in a very dangerous direction,” he added. “The damage to Americans’ faith in these institutions could be lasting. So before we go any further, we should shut off the cameras, close the Senate and talk face to face about what this might mean for the country.”

As Roll Call reports:

The stage is set for a Sunday afternoon Senate vote to limit debate on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed a cloture motion on the nomination Friday. That sets up a simple-majority vote to wind down the debate one hour after the Senate convenes on Sunday. Under regular order, that vote is expected to kick off at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

With a 53-47 Republican majority, and just two GOP senators opposed, Trump’s nominee is on a glide path to confirmation that will seal a conservative hold on the court for years to come.

McConnell said Monday that Barrett demonstrated over several days of public hearings the “sheer intellectual horsepower that the American people deserve to have on the Supreme Court.”

Without the votes to stop Barrett’s ascent, Democrats have few options left. They are searching for two more GOP senators to break ranks and halt confirmation, but that seems unlikely. Never before as a court nominee been voted on so close to a presidential election.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.