WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the lifetime role on the Supreme Court of the United States in a final vote on Monday evening, just over one week before Election Day.
Despite arguing through the night Sunday, Democrats were unable to stop the vote given the 53-47 GOP majority and most Republicans uniting in support over Trump's nominee. Senate Democrats objected to the process, arguing that the winner of the Nov. 3 election should be the one to pick who fills the vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The 48-year-old appellate judge’s rise opens up a potential new era of rulings on abortion, gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act. A case against the Obama-era health law is scheduled to be heard Nov. 10.
Vice President Mike Pence would typically preside over Monday's vote, but after a close aide and others on his staff tested positive for the coronavirus, it was unclear whether he would attend. He is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Minnesota, arriving back in Washington ahead of the expected evening vote.
The White House told NewsNation that Pence will probably still be on the road, and not in the Senate chamber for the vote.
Democratic leaders sent a letter to the vice president asking for him to reconsider attending. Pence's office said he tested negative on Monday morning.
"This morning, Vice President Pence and the Second Lady tested negative for COVID-19," Pence's office said in a statement.
With Barrett's confirmation all but assured, Trump is expected to celebrate with a swearing-in event at the White House after the late-evening vote. Justice Clarence Thomas is set to administer the Constitutional Oath, a senior White House official said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send the vote to the full Senate Thursday. The panel approved Barrett 12-0, with all Republican members voting yes while the Democrats weren’t in attendance as a form of protest.
On Sunday, the Senate voted 51-48 vote to begin to bring the process to a vote by launching the final 30 hours of Senate debate.
Two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voted against advancing the nominee, and all Democrats who voted were opposed. California Sen. Kamala Harris, the vice presidential nominee, missed the vote while campaigning in Michigan.
Monday's final tally was expected to grow by one after Murkowski announced her support for the nominee.
Murkowski said Saturday she would vote against the procedural steps, but ultimately join GOP colleagues in confirming Barrett.
“While I oppose the process that has led us to this point, I do not hold it against her,” Murkowski said.
Collins, who faces a tight reelection in Maine, remains the only Republican expected to vote against Trump's nominee.
“My vote does not reflect any conclusion that I have reached about Judge Barrett’s qualifications to serve," Collins said. "I do not think it is fair nor consistent to have a Senate confirmation vote prior to the election.”
Barrett's confirmation would secure a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court for the foreseeable future.
She would be the sixth justice on the nine-member court to be appointed by a Republican president, and the third of President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Barrett has been a judge since 2017, when Trump nominated her to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But as a longtime University of Notre Dame law professor she had already established herself as a reliable conservative in the mold of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she clerked in the late 1990s.
NewsNation will carry the vote live on NewsNationNow.com and the NewsNation Now app.
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