WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats branded nominee Amy Coney Barrett a threat to Americans鈥� health care during the coronavirus pandemic Monday at the start of a fast-tracked hearing that Republicans are confident will end with Barrett鈥檚 confirmation to replace the late before .
In a competing effort to approvingly define the 48-year-old Barrett, who sat silent and wearing a face mask, Republican senators called President Donald Trump鈥檚 pick a thoughtful judge with impeccable credentials.
Barring a dramatic development, Republicans appear to have the votes to confirm Barrett to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court. If she is confirmed quickly she could be on the Supreme Court when it hears the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act, a week after the election.
One after another, Democrats sought to tie her nomination to the upcoming court case.
鈥淗ealth care coverage for millions of Americans is at stake with this nomination,鈥� said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee鈥檚 senior Democrat.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said the nomination is a 鈥渏udicial torpedo aimed鈥� at the law鈥檚 protection for people with pre-existing health conditions among its provisions. The Trump administration wants the court to strike down the entire law popularly known as 鈥淥bamacare鈥� on Nov. 10. Barrett has criticized the court鈥檚 two earlier major rulings supporting the law.
Among Republicans, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, dismissed warnings Barrett will undo the Obama-era healthcare law as 鈥渙utrageous.鈥�
Republicans also warned against making Barrett鈥檚 Catholicism an issue in the confirmation debate, especially in regard to her stance on abortion, with Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri lambasting what he called a 鈥減attern and practice of religious bigotry鈥� by Democrats. However, Democratic senators made clear in advance of the hearing that they didn鈥檛 plan to question the judge on the specifics of her religious faith.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, also a practicing Catholic, told reporters ahead of a campaign trip to Ohio that he doesn鈥檛 think 鈥渢here鈥檚 any question about her faith.鈥�
The Senate Judiciary Committee, meeting on a federal holiday, kicked off four days of statements and testimony in an environment that has been altered by the coronavirus pandemic. Some senators were taking part remotely, and the hearing room itself was arranged with health concerns in mind.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., opened the hearing acknowledging 鈥渢he COVID problem in America is real.鈥� But he said, 鈥淲e do have a country that needs to move forward safely.鈥�
Graham acknowledged the obvious: 鈥淭his is going to be a long, contentious week.鈥�
, a federal appeals court judge, was to tell senators that she is 鈥渇orever grateful鈥� for Ginsburg鈥檚 trailblazing path as a woman. But she is resolved to maintain the perspective of her own mentor, the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia and 鈥渁pply the law as written,鈥� according to her for the hearings.
鈥淐ourts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life,鈥� Barrett says in the remarks, which The Associated Press obtained.
Republicans are moving at a breakneck pace to seat Barrett before the Nov. 3 election to secure Trump鈥檚 pick, which would put her on the bench for any election-related challenges.
Democrats are trying in vain to delay the fast-track confirmation by raising fresh concerns about the safety of meeting during the pandemic after two GOP senators on the panel tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of those who tested positive, was in the hearing room Monday after his spokesman said he was symptom-free. The other affected senator, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, was participating remotely, though he too is symptom-free, his spokesman said. Both tested positive 10 days ago.
Among senators who will not set foot in the hearing room because of coronavirus concerns is Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
鈥淲e are 22 days away from an election and people are voting right now. And that鈥檚 the focus given that they鈥檙e trying to push through, ram through a Supreme Court justice for a lifetime appointment while almost seven million people have already voted,鈥� Harris said as she arrived at her Senate office.
Trump chose Barrett after the death last month of Ginsburg, a liberal icon. It鈥檚 the opportunity to entrench a conservative majority on the court for years to come with his third justice.
Outside groups are pushing Democrats to make a strong case against what they call an illegitimate confirmation, when people are already voting in some states, saying the winner of the presidency should make the pick. No Supreme Court justice has ever been confirmed so close to a presidential contest.
The country will get an extended look at Barrett over the next three days in hearings like none other during the heated election environment and the pandemic limiting public access.
Faith and family punctuate her testimony, and she said would bring 鈥渁 few new perspectives鈥� as the first mother of school-age children on the nine-member court.
Barrett says she uses her children as a test when deciding cases, asking herself how she would view the decision if one of her children were the party she was ruling against.
鈥淓ven though I would not like the result, would I understand that the decision was fairly reasoned and grounded in the law?鈥� she says in the prepared remarks.
A Roman Catholic, she says she believes in the 鈥減ower of prayer.鈥� Barrett鈥檚 religious views and past leadership role in a Catholic faith community pose for Democrats as they try to probe her judicial approach to abortion, gay marriage and other social issues without veering into inappropriate questions of her faith.
Ordinarily, Barrett would get to show off her family and seven children. But the White House event announcing her nomination, in which most of the audience did not wear masks, has been labeled a 鈥渟uperspreader鈥� for the coronavirus.
More than two dozen people linked to the Sept. 26 Rose Garden event, including the two GOP senators, have contracted COVID-19 since then. Barrett and her family went maskless at the event. She and her husband, Jesse, tested positive for the virus earlier this year and recovered, two administration officials have said.
Democrats already were enraged that Republicans are moving so quickly having refused to consider President Barack Obama nominee in February 2016, well before that year鈥檚 election.
Barrett is the most openly anti-abortion Supreme Court nominee in decades and her vote could provide a majority to restrict if not overturn abortion rights.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Michael Balsamo in Washington, Elana Schor in New York and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.
