Senate’s Supreme Court Timeline Faces Scrutiny on Virus Fear (1)

Donald Trump’s fast-track timetable for confirming his Supreme Court nominee is under new pressure after the president’s Covid-19 diagnosis, particularly amid questions about whether the confirmation process might have helped spread the virus.

Republicans and Democrats quickly maneuvered Friday to establish positions on the outlook for Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation as Supreme Court justice in wake of the news of that Trump and two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are infected with the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump arrives to introduce Amy Coney Barrett in the Rose Garden at the White House on Sept. 26.

Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Saturday that while he tested negative for the virus, he’ll quarantine in his home state due to his interactions with senators who have tested positive, ABC News reported. That makes him the third committee member to quarantine.

Republicans had been seeking to hold hearings starting the week of Oct. 12 and have a vote before the Nov. 3 election. Democrats argued against what they called a rush to approve Barrett, saying a vote shouldn’t take place until after the election or even the next president’s inauguration in January.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, the top Democratic senator on the Judiciary Committee, said in a joint statement that it was premature “to commit to a hearing schedule when we do not know the full extent of potential exposure stemming from the president’s infection and before the White House puts in place a contact-tracing plan to prevent further spread of the disease.”

Past Infection

Barrett, an appellate court judge who is Trump’s pick to succeed the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, contracted the coronavirus earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter. But meetings with the president, top aides and senators in recent days to help advance her nomination spurred concerns about the process serving as a potential spreading channel.

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The Trump administration hasn’t released any estimated matrix of infections related to the president. But at least four have tested positive after attending the White House ceremony where Barrett’s nomination was announced on Sept. 26. Along with Trump, Lee and Tillis, Notre Dame President John Jenkins has contracted the coronavirus.

Tillis, unlike Lee and most other attendees, was pictured wearing a mask. On Thursday, he went to the Senate floor to cast a vote. Lee and Jenkins were photographed at the Rose Garden ceremony without face masks.

Amy Coney Barrett meets with Senator Mike Lee at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 29.

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/UPI/Bloomberg

Lee met with Barrett on Tuesday, and said Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Lee attended a lunch with all Senate Republicans on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning took part in a regularly scheduled Senate Judiciary meeting to discuss pending nominations; most members of the panel were present.

Subsequent to the Judiciary meeting, Lee skipped another Senate GOP luncheon and missed a full Senate vote. His spokesman, Conn Carroll, said it was during that time that Lee’s coronavirus test was administered.

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Feinstein, who was present at the Judiciary meeting, will be tested, her spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday morning there are no plans to delay the confirmation hearings still scheduled to begin on Oct. 12. Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham tweeted later that he had tested negative for the coronavirus and looked forward to the hearing. “Any senator who wants to participate virtually will be allowed to do so,” Graham said.

Senator Mike Lee speaks during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Sept. 30.

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

“We don’t plan to delay the consideration,” McConnell said on conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. McConnell was asked in the interview whether he will schedule a full Senate vote before the elections, but continued to be noncommittal on timing.

He said they will vote on the nominee “very soon. I haven’t picked an exact point to bring the nomination up but it’s front and center for the American people.”

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Speaking after Trump’s positive diagnosis but before he knew about Lee’s, McConnell said he didn’t know whether any senators had been exposed to the virus in recent days.

Even so, a Republican congressional aide said that some party members are urging McConnell to consider abandoning next week’s planned Senate session -- a move that might help reduce risks before the Barrett hearing. Democrats, however, would have to agree in order to change the Senate schedule and they have given no hint they would do so.

With the Senate confirmation vote expected to be close, Republicans cannot afford to lose more than three of their caucus to assure Barrett ascends and secures a rebalancing of the top court in favor of conservatives.

(Updates with Sasse quarantine in third paragraph.)

--With assistance from Miles Weiss.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net;
Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net

Bill Faries, Tony Czuczka

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