The US Senate has confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in a victory for President Donald Trump, a week before the general election.
The confirmation gives the top court a six-to-three conservative majority and is a win for Trump, who nominated Barrett, the federal appeal court judge from Indiana, shortly after the death last month of former justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon.
Trump’s fellow Republicans voted 52-48 to approve the judge, overcoming the unified opposition of Democrats.
Only one Republican, Senator Susan Collins, who faces a tough re-election battle in Maine, voted against the president’s nominee in Monday evening’s vote.
The 48-year-old took the oath of office at the White House alongside President Trump.
The new justice is the third appointed by the Republican president, after Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
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The White House held the celebratory event to swear-in Barrett despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s last event for Barrett in the gardens around the historic building likely caused an outbreak and Trump himself became ill several days later.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will formally swear in Barrett on Tuesday at a private ceremony, allowing her to formally begin duties on the court, solidifying the conservative majority.
Democrats protested in the Senate all through the night, in a last-ditch, futile effort to stop the confirmation.
“Tonight, the Republican majority will break 231 years of precedent,” Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said in his party’s final speech before the vote.
“The American people will never forget this blatant act of bad faith.” Schumer warned the Republicans would “regret” the move for years to come.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, brushed aside Democratic concerns about the process, insisting Barrett is a qualified nominee and her nomination was moving ahead as the centre-right party currently holds both the White House and the Senate.
“We’re a constitutional republic. Legitimacy does not flow from their feelings,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, pointing at the Democrats.
“You can’t win ’em all, and elections have consequences.”
Many leading Democrats are increasingly threatening to expand the nine-member court if they win big next week, but the party’s presidential nominee Joe Biden has been more cautious, saying only that he would explore judicial reforms if elected.
In a procedural step on Sunday, the Republican-controlled upper chamber of Congress voted 51-48 to wind down debate after 30 hours and cleared the way for a final confirmation vote.
Democrats used the hours to their fullest, staying in session throughout the night, to rail against the process and to claim Barrett would strip health care protections and generally favour conservative positions on issues such as abortion and gun control. T
he centre-left party has made repeated unsuccessful attempts to delay the process until after the election. Opinion polls have shown voters have warmed to Barrett, with support for her nomination rising in the weeks since Trump first made the announcement.
