Triumph for Donald Trump :: Judge Barrett confirmed and already sworn in

A week before the US presidential election, Amy Coney Barrett’s appeal cemented the conservative majority in the country’s Supreme Court. The Supreme Court could have the final say in any case over the vote count in the November 3 election. At the same time, with its decisions on controversial issues such as the right to abortion or same-sex marriages, the court repeatedly sets the course for US society.

Judges are proposed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate. You are appointed for life. US President Donald Trump’s candidate passed the Senate with the votes of 52 Republican members, 47 Democrats and one Republican voted against her on Monday evening.

With Barrett, the Conservatives in the Supreme Court get the dominant majority of six of the nine seats. The 48-year-old replaces liberal justice icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September. It is the third Supreme Court seat Trump has held.

Democrats around presidential candidate Joe Biden, however, demanded that only the winner of the election should resolve Ginsburg’s successor. In the end, only Senator Susan Collins supported this Republican view.

Barely an hour after the Senate vote, Barrett was sworn in on the Constitution on the South Lawn of the White House. Then she was photographed with Trump on the balcony of the presidential residence. He will become a full member of the Supreme Court on Tuesday when President John Roberts is sworn in. Barrett pointed out in a short speech that his political views and private convictions would play no role in Supreme Court decisions.

It was Barrett’s second event at the White House. After the event for their appointment exactly a month earlier, several attendees tested positive for the coronavirus. This also included the president and his wife Melania. This time the chairs were placed at a greater distance, but the various participants once again did not wear masks.

Trump wanted to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court ahead of the November 3 presidential election. He also explicitly referred to possible legal proceedings related to the presidential elections. In recent days, the court has made several decisions on disputes over the electoral process in different states. One of them arrived just as the senators were voting. The Supreme Court refused to extend the deadline for sending ballot papers to Wisconsin to six days after November 3.

More recently, Democrats have warned that with Barrett in the Supreme Court, President Barack Obama’s health reform could fall and millions of Americans would lose their health insurance. The Trump administration is making another attempt to overturn the Supreme Court reform, with the first hearing scheduled for the week after the presidential election. Trump only said last week that he hoped the court would abolish “Obamacare”. He himself has been announcing his health plan for years, but has not yet presented it.

Liberals also fear that with Barrett and conservative rule in the Supreme Court, the right to abortion and same-sex marriage may be at risk. In their hearing, which lasted several days, Barrett consistently kept a low profile on contentious issues. Among other things, he did not want to say whether, from his point of view, the right to abortion or same-sex marriage is covered by the constitution. Nor did he want to answer the question of whether a US president is constitutionally obligated to transfer power peacefully after an election.

Democrats were also outraged that Republicans in the Senate even refused to hear Obama’s Supreme Court candidates in early 2016. They stressed that in an election year, the will of the people must first be discovered. They have now returned to Barrett’s position, which they had established a new rule four years ago.

In view of Conservative dominance in the Supreme Court, appeals have recently been made among Democrats to enlarge the court in the Senate if Biden wins and the party wins.

Biden initially avoided answering the question of whether he would take such a step for a long time. Meanwhile, in an interview, he has positioned himself against an extension, at least as a single measure. “The last thing we need is to turn the Supreme Court into political football so that whoever has the most votes gets what they want,” Biden said in a televised interview. “Presidents come and go, Supreme Court justices stay for generations,” he said.

At the same time, Biden wants to tackle global judicial reform if he wins. He would then let a committee of Democrats, Republicans and constitutional law experts advise on the recommendations for six months, he said.