Senate one step away from Barrett confirmation

Senate one step away from Barrett confirmation

[NFA] The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate on Sunday moved closer toward a final confirmation vote on President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, on Monday, just over a week before Election Day.

Gavino Garay reports.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL: "Colleagues, by tomorrow night, we'll have a new member of the United States Supreme Court." The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate on Sunday moved one step closer to the final confirmation vote on President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, just over a week before Election Day.

The Senate voted 51-48 on Sunday to limit debate on the nomination, readying the final vote that is expected to take place on Monday evening.

It passed with the support of every Republican but two.

Every Democrat opposed the motion.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell touted Barrett's qualifications for the high court.

MCCONNELL: "Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, is a stellar nominee in every single respect.

Her intellectual brilliance is unquestioned.

Her command of the law is remarkable.

Her integrity is above reproach." No nominee to the Supreme Court has ever been confirmed by the Senate this close to a presidential election.

Democrats have called the rush to confirm Barrett so close to an election hypocritical, and warned her position on the court could imperil the landmark health care law known as Obamacare.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will likely preside over Monday's vote, and Democrats expressed concerns after several members Pence's team tested positive for COVID-19.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted Pence's expected presence during the confirmation vote as indicative of Republicans priorities.

SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER: And nothing could be a more apt metaphor for what's going on here.

The Republican party is willing to ignore the pandemic to rush the Supreme Court nomination forward, and the vice president, having been potentially exposed to COVID, will preside." Trump has said he believes the Supreme Court will decide the election's outcome and has made clear he wants Barrett on the bench for any election-related cases.

Barrett is also likely to participate in the Nov.

10 oral arguments in which Trump and fellow Republicans are asking the court to strike down the Affordable Care Act.

A favorite of Christian conservatives, Barrett frustrated Democrats during her confirmation hearing this month by sidestepping questions on abortion, presidential powers, climate change, voting rights, Obamacare and other issues.