Amy Coney Barrett faces questions on legal record as nomination hearings continue – live | US news

Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh – reporting from the West Coast.

As senators continue to question supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, the standing members of the court granted a Trump administration request to halt the census count while litigation continues.

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few days.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The second day of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearings is still unfolding. Members of the Senate judiciary committee have been posing questions to the supreme court nominee for eight hours, and six senators still have to speak.
• Barrett deflected questions on her opinions of the Affordable Care Act, Roe v Wade and voting rights. Instead, the nominee repeatedly insisted that it would be inappropriate for her to offer opinions on major past cases until she joins the court.
• Democrats reiterated their concerns that Barrett’s confirmation could jeopardize the ACA. “I’m not here on a mission to destroy the Affordable Care Act,” Barrett told the committee. “I’m just here to apply the law.” The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case involving the ACA just one week after the presidential election.
• Under intense questioning from Amy Klobuchar, Barrett declined to characterize Roe as a “super-precedent” case. Barrett has said she considers Brown v Board of Education, which ended racial segregation in schools, to be a super-precedent case because it will never be overturned given there are no challenges to it now. “I‘m answering a lot of questions about Roe, which I think indicates that Roe doesn’t fall in that category,” Barrett said. She added that her characterization does not necessarily mean Roe should be overturned.
• Trump called for a massive coronavirus relief package, as Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced plans to vote on a standalone bill for small business loans. “STIMULUS! Go big or go home!!!” Trump said in a tweet.

Maanvi will have more updates from the hearing coming up, so stay tuned.

In case you missed it this morning: Joe Biden indicated Barack Obama would soon be hitting the campaign trail to stump for his former running mate, with three weeks to go until the presidential election.

“He’s doing enough for our campaign. He’ll be out on the trail,” Biden said before leaving for Florida.

Obama has participated in virtual fundraisers for Biden, and the two filmed a “socially distanced conversation” in July, which focused on criticizing Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden similarly focused his speech in Pembroke Pines, Florida, today on criticizing the president’s handling of the pandemic.

The Democratic nominee told senior voters that Trump had treated America’s older citizens like they were “expendable” and “forgettable.”

“I prayed for his recovery when he got Covid. And I hoped he’d at least come out of it somewhat chastened,” Biden said of the president.

“But what has he done? He’s just doubled down on the misinformation he did before and making it worse.”

Picking up the same line of questioning as Republican Josh Hawley, Democrat Richard Blumenthal asked Amy Coney Barrett about the 2006 newspaper ad she signed onto that criticized Roe v Wade.

Barrett appeared to get a bit frustrated as Blumenthal pressed her on why she had not disclosed the ad in the records she submitted to the Senate.

Blumenthal noted that senators would not even be aware of the ad if the Guardian had not reported on it earlier this month.

Barrett emphasized she had “no recollection” of signing on to the ad, noting that it was difficult to compile 30 years of documents from her career.

“I assure you I’m not trying to hide” anything, Barrett told Blumenthal.

The second day of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearings have now resumed, with Democrat Richard Blumenthal questioning the nominee.

Blumenthal opened his questioning by saying he was “disappointed” by Barrett’s refusal to commit to recusing herself from cases regarding the presidential election, given Trump has indicated he wants a ninth justice on the supreme court to help determine the winner of the race.

“It would be a dagger at the heart of the court and our democracy if this election is decided by the court rather than the American voters,” Blumenthal said.

We have reached the second break in Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing today. The Senate judiciary committee will reconvene in about 20 minutes.

Responding to questions from Republican Josh Hawley, Amy Coney Barrett addressed the 2006 newspaper ad she signed onto that criticized Roe v Wade.

“While I was free to express my private views at that time, I don’t feel like it is appropriate for me anymore, because of the canons of conduct, to express an affirmative view, at this point in time,” Barrett told Hawley.

The ad stated, “It’s time to put an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v Wade and restore law that protects the lives of unborn children.”

Hawley later asked Barrett about her experiences raising seven children, noting she has a multiracial family.

Barrett said, “While my life experiences I think, I hope have given me wisdom and compassion, they don’t dictate how I decide cases.”

As Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing continues in Washington, Joe Biden is campaigning in the crucial swing state of Florida.

The Democratic nominee kept his mask on as laid out his pitch to senior voters in Pembroke Pines.

Biden argued Trump had treated America’s elderly citizens like they were “expendable” and “forgettable” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I prayed for his recovery when he got Covid. And I hoped he’d at least come out of it somewhat chastened,” Biden said of the president.

“But what has he done? He’s just doubled down on the misinformation he did before and making it worse.”

Biden later added, “The only senior Donald Trump cares about is the senior Donald Trump.”

Echoing other Democratic questioners, Chris Coons pressed Amy Coney Barrett on whether she would recuse herself from cases involving the presidential election.

Barrett noted she has not been involved in hardly any cases involving election law since becoming a judge.

She pledged to “consider all factors that are relevant to that question” when determining whether to recuse herself from a case.

The Democrats on the Senate judiciary committee have repeatedly quoted Trump’s words indicating he wants a ninth justice on the supreme court in case the election comes before the court.

“I think this will end up in the supreme court,” Trump said late last month. “And I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.”

Chris Coons read from an essay that Amy Coney Barrett wrote in 2017, criticizing the decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

In the essay, Barrett wrote, “Chief Justice Roberts pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.”

Citing the essay, Coons expressed concern about how Barrett would rule in the case involving the ACA that is currently before the supreme court.

But Barrett emphasized she would show “no bias or hostility” toward the ACA when hearing the oral arguments in the case.

“I’m not here on a mission to destroy the Affordable Care Act,” Barrett said. “I’m just here to apply the law.”

Responding to questions from Chris Coons, Amy Coney Barrett said she has “no hostility” for the Affordable Care Act or any other law.

Democratic senators are having more fun with signs, as Coons brought a poster noting the supreme court will be listening to oral arguments in a case involving the ACA just one week after the November 3 elections.

Republican Ben Sasse is now posing questions to Amy Coney Barrett, and he noted we are about halfway through today’s questioners.

Sasse opened his questioning by mocking Sheldon Whitehouse’s “Beautiful Mind conspiracy charts,” referring to the Academy Award-winning film about Nobel Laureate John Nash.

Whitehouse used his 30 minutes of questioning to effectively present a lecture accusing Republicans of hypocrisy after refusing to hold hearings for Barack Obama’s supreme court nominee in 2016.

Whitehouse also noted Trump has explicitly said he hopes his supreme court nominee will rule to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

Under intense questioning from Amy Klobuchar, Amy Coney Barrett declined to characterize Roe v Wade as a “super-precedent” case.

Klobuchar noted Barrett has previously referred to Brown v Board of Education, which ended racial segregation in schools, as a “super-precedent.”

Asked by Klobuchar to define a “super-precedent,” Barrett said it referred to a case that would never be overturned because there are no longer challenges to the decision.

Barrett said, “I‘m answering a lot of questions about Roe, which I think indicates that Roe doesn’t fall in that category.”

But Barrett added that her characterization did not necessarily mean Roe should be overturned.

Amy Coney Barrett is committed to avoiding offering any opinions on voting rights, as Democrat Amy Klobuchar presses her on the issue.

Klobuchar has asked Barrett about the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering and voter intimidation.

Each time, Barrett has said it would be inappropriate for her to offer opinions on the matter before she joins the court.

Senator Amy Klobuchar said she believed Amy Coney Barrett would be “the polar opposite of Justice Ginsburg,” who died last month.

“She and Justice Scalia were friends, yes, but she never embraced his legal philosophy,” Klobuchar said of Ginsburg and her court colleague, Antonin Scalia.

If confirmed, Barrett would be filling Ginsburg’s seat on the supreme court.

Following Ted Cruz’s criticisms of Democrats’ approach to religious liberty, Amy Klobuchar opened her questioning by noting Joe Biden is Catholic and “a man of faith.”

Klobuchar then asked Amy Coney Barrett what she thought of Trump’s tweet saying his supreme court nominee will dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

Barrett responded, “I can’t really speak to what the president says on Twitter.”

Senator Ted Cruz delivered a 20-minute speech on religious liberty, accusing Democrats of attacking Christians’ rights.

Cruz concluded the speech by saying to Amy Coney Barrett, “I’m not going to ask you to respond to any of that.”

Cruz then pivoted to asking Barrett how she was juggling virtual learning with her seven children and how she made the decision to adopt two children from Haiti.

Republican Ted Cruz opened his questioning of Sheldon Whitehouse by chastising him for essentially use him time to deliver a lecture.

But after asking Amy Coney Barrett a few questions, Cruz has now effectively launched into a lecture of his own.

Cruz also told Barrett that she had made it through Democrats’ “top of the lineup” of questioners, but arguably the three best Democratic questioners — Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar — have not yet spoken.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The second day of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearings is underway. Barrett has taken questions from several members of the Senate judiciary committee, but 14 senators still haven’t spoken yet. The hearing will likely wrap up around 9 pm ET tonight.
• Barrett dodged questions about her thoughts on the Affordable Care Act and Roe v Wade. The judge said she believed it was inappropriate to offer personal opinions on major past cases before she joins the court.
• Trump called for a massive coronavirus relief package, as Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced plans to vote on a standalone bill for small business loans. “STIMULUS! Go big or go home!!!” Trump said in a tweet.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.