Coons: Barrett has ‘views that make her not qualified to serve on the Supreme Court’

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) in an interview on Sunday called Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s positions “disqualifying.” 

“I’m going to be laying out the ways in which Judge Barrett’s views, her views on reaching back and reconsidering and overturning long-settled precedent, are not just extreme; they’re disqualifying,” Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday,” referring to Barrett’s confirmation hearings, which are scheduled to begin this week.

“She has views that make her not qualified to serve on the Supreme Court,” Coons continued, noting that “President Trump has said he would only nominate someone who would overturn the Affordable Care Act, taking away health care protections for 100 million Americans” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Coons specifically referenced Barrett’s earlier criticism of Chief Justice John Roberts’s 2012 decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Delaware senator added that “this is hard for your average American to follow, I think,” saying he had spoken with constituents who believed the ACA was already settled law.

“This is their last desperate measure to jam someone onto the court to accomplish that goal by Supreme Court decision what they couldn’t accomplish by legislative action in the Congress,” he said.

He also noted that both the president and Republicans on the committee have said they would only vote to confirm a justice who they were confident would overturn Roe v. Wade.

“We shouldn’t be having this committee [hearing] with two members of the committee infected with COVID,” he added, referencing Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).