The GOP Has No Choice But To Confirm Amy Coney Barrett

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings are over and the Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on her nomination next week. The hearings were a rather tame affair. The Democrats made a conscious decision not to have a replay of the Kavanaugh circus. For the most part, they focused on advancing the prospect that Barrett, if confirmed, will end Obamacare and sentence millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions to die in the streets. The other main talking point was Barrett reversing Roe vs. Wade and, thus, women will be forced to go in alleys to have abortions. The Republicans, for the most part, used the hearings as an opportunity to defend religious freedom, praise the nominee and decry the Democrats previous attacks on Barrett for being a conservative Catholic.

On the last day of the hearings, the Democrats advanced a motion to delay the confirmation after the election. Citing public polls indicating that the majority of Americans would prefer that the next president fill the Supreme Court vacancy, the Democrats insisted that Republicans must respect the will of the people. Moreover, they pointed out that the Senate failed to take up the nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy created when Antonin Scalia suddenly died. The Democrats have a valid point on this score. Garland was nominated eight months before Election Day 2016. Barrett is on her way to confirmation in less than two months before the election.

I was never a fan of Mitch McConnell’s decision not to allow Garland to go through the nomination process. The Republicans had the votes to block Obama’s choice. There was no need to create a precedent that could either prevent Republicans in the future from confirming a nominee they approved of or look like rank hypocrites. At the time, I wrote:

Instead, Republicans have decided to put forth the preposterous argument that no Supreme Court vacancy should be filled during the last year of a second presidential term. What next? The president shouldn’t pass a budget, veto bills or be Commander in Chief? Since Republicans pride themselves on being strict constructionists and Constitutional conservatives: where in the Constitution does it state that the second presidential term is three instead of four years?

However, I was in the minority. The Senate Leader was widely praised by right wing pundits for masterfully preventing the Senate from fulfilling its constitutional duty. Heck, “saving Scalia’s seat” is the only major accomplishment that McConnell can list after so many years in Congress. If Barrett reaches the Supreme Court, as it seems very likely, the Senate Leader will surely list it as his second major accomplishment.

Going forward, as a citizen of this country, I do hope my fellow Americans demand that our elected officials stop inventing rules. There is only one rule book and that is the Constitution. Everything else it’s just an excuse for them not to fulfill their constitutional obligations or pursue political expediency. We have fixed terms in our system and all elected officials should be expected to do their jobs until the end of their terms. Moreover, let’s demand that our political parties stop pretending that a Supreme Court seat or any elected position belongs to the person filling it. Over and over the Democrats mentioned Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s final wish as if her spot on the Court belonged to her estate. It does not. We must demand our politicians abide by our Constitution and treat us as adults.

The GOP has no choice but to confirm Barrett. Stated in a different way, what do they have to show for controlling Congress during the first two years of the Trump Administration? Tax cuts? Half the working population in America don’t make enough to have an income tax bill. More military spending? Trump won the GOP nomination and the White House largely because he promised to end the never ending wars. Obamacare is still largely in place. The deficit was out of control before COVID hit our shores. There is no wall going up on the southern border. The Congressional GOP has repeatedly failed to deliver on the populist agenda that gave Trump his victory and kept the Democrats from gaining control of the Senate in 2016. Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett is the only thing the GOP can point to it did for its base voters.