GOP senators confident Trump pick to be confirmed by November

Republican senators said on Sunday they believe President Trump’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last week will be confirmed by November.

Despite widespread opposition from Senate Democrats, Republicans are pushing ahead with a vote on Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett just weeks ahead of Election Day. The Senate Judiciary Committee said it will start its hearing for the nominee on Oct. 12. 

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Barrett will likely be confirmed before Election Day, but left the possibility open for a confirmation after the election. 

“What I’ve said was, this needs to take all the time it needs to take, but it doesn’t need to take more time than it needs to take. I’ve talked to Senator [Lindsey] Graham about this, trying to make arrangements as the chairman of the Rules Committee for room and space and security and other things,” Blunt said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” referring to the South Carolina senator who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

“And he’s laid out a plan that I think meets all the standards of past hearings and could be done before Election Day. If for some reason it’s not done, we’ll do it after Election Day, but I think we’re likely to get this done sometime in the month of October,” Blunt added. 

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” Barrett will be confirmed to the Supreme Court “next month.” Cotton also dismissed accusations of hypocrisy based on contradicting statements he made in 2016 in blocking former President Obama’s nominee to fill a vacancy after Justice Antonin Scalia died about 10 months ahead of that year’s election. 

Cotton argued the situation was different since the party controlling the Senate and White House were different, an argument GOP senators have made since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would push for a vote on Trump’s nominee this year just hours after Ginsburg’s death was announced. 

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) similarly defended himself against accusations of hypocrisy, stating the Constitution’s “provisions about filling a Supreme Court vacancy are unaffected by the electoral calendar.” He also predicted Barrett will be confirmed by November. 

Democrats have tried to shift the focus of the debate of Barrett’s confirmation on healthcare, underscoring their opposition to the vote ahead by highlighting that the Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge over the Affordable Care Act one week after Election Day. 

“What I am concerned about is anyone that President Trump would have appointed is there to undo the Affordable Care Act. That is why he’s in such a hurry,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) acknowledged there is little Democrats can do to halt the confirmation of Trump’s nominee. 

He countered suggestions from Adam Jentleson, a deputy chief of staff for former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), that Senate Democrats could delay Barrett’s confirmation by denying unanimous consent to meet and holding a series of quorum calls.

“I know Adam. I like Adam and respect him, but he’s wrong,” Durbin said on ABC’s “This Week.” 

“We could slow it down perhaps a matter of hours, maybe days at the most, but we can’t stop the outcome,” he added. “What we should do is to address this now respectfully.”