Democrats, who hold the minority in the United States Senate, have staged an all-night “talk-a-thon” to protest the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the “talk-a-thon” is largely a symbolic act, “Senate Democrats are taking over the floor all night to fight this sham process by Senate Republicans. We will not stop fighting,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted Sunday night.
Despite their semi-recent stance on nominating high court justices during an election year and the mere eight days before the 2020 presidential race concludes, Senate Republicans are pressing to push through the conservative Coney Barrett’s confirmation on Monday.
Democrats hold 45 of 100 seats in the Senate, with two Independents who vote with them. Even at 47 votes, Democrats are powerless to prevent the confirmation, which will pass with 53 possible Republican votes. Sen. Susan Collins from Maine may abstain.
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Coney Bennett was nominated to the highest court in the land by President Donald Trump after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September. Trump’s announcement event for her at the White House has been determined to have served as a “super-spreader” gathering, where numerous attendees caught the coronavirus.
Coney Bennett’s rushed confirmation sparked ire within the Democratic Party since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold hearings to confirm President Barack Obama‘s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, in March of 2016, citing that “The next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the Supreme Court and have a profound impact on our country, so of course the American people should have a say in the Court’s direction.”
With just over a week before the next presidential election, McConnell has pressed to add Coney Barrett to the court.
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“The Senate is doing the right thing. We’re moving this nomination forward. By tomorrow night, we’ll have a new member of the United States Supreme Court,” he said Sunday on the Senate floor, according to a report from The Hill.
His colleagues on the other side of the Senate aisle decried that inevitability.
“Ours is a Senate … where words have lost their meaning. Party advantage dictates every action. …Deliberation is no longer necessary because conclusions are all forgone,” said Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet.
A recent POLITICO poll found that 51 percent of Americans believe that the Senate should confirm Barrett. Only 28 percent of those polled disagree, and 21 percent have no opinion.
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