In the United States, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12 to zero Thursday to recommend Amy Coney Barrett be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Republican Chair Lindsey Graham disregarded his committee’s own rules requiring a quorum be present and proceeded with the vote after all 10 of the Judiciary Committee’s Democrats boycotted Thursday’s roll call. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to hold a vote in the full Senate as early as Monday.
Senate Democrats have called the rush to confirm Barrett so close to the election an illegitimate power grab, and reproductive health advocates warn Barrett could help overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case affirming the right to an abortion.
Meanwhile, environmentalists are warning Barrett’s refusal to acknowledge the science of climate change could spell disaster for efforts to mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis. Lori Lodes of the group Climate Power 2020 wrote, “The last thing our country can afford is a climate denier who will use her lifetime seat on the Supreme Court to block climate action and roll back our environmental laws for decades to come.”