SENATE PANEL OKAYS BARRETT NOMINATION AMID DEM BOYCOTT

The Republican-led US Senate Judiciary Committee approved President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to a lifetime Supreme Court seat despite a Democratic boycott, clearing the way for a final Senate confirmation vote planned for Monday. 

By a 12-0 vote, the panel approved Barrett with all Republican members voting yes and the 10 committee Democrats boycotting the meeting after calling the confirmation process a sham. With Trump’s fellow Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority, Barrett’s confirmation appears certain, Richard Cowan reported for Reuters. 

Trump, who asked the Senate to confirm Barrett before the Nov. 3 US election in which he is being challenged by Democrat Joe Biden, applauded the committee vote, writing on Twitter: “Big day for America!” 

Barrett, 48, has been a federal appeals court judge since 2017 and previously was a legal scholar the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Her confirmation would give the top US judicial body a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices named by Trump. “The Senate majority is conducting the most rushed, the most partisan and the least legitimate process in the long history of Supreme Court nominations,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after the vote.