Barrett Gets Her Chance to Speak After Hours of Tributes, Jabs
- Democrats raised concerns Barrett may help overturn Obamacare
- Barring a bombshell, Barrett will be on top court by election
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U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett cast herself as a judge who puts her personal preferences aside, as her Senate confirmation hearing devolved into a partisan clash over the Affordable Care Act, the pandemic and President Donald Trump’s effort to shift the court to the right in the days before the election.
After a morning of listening silently to pointed comments from senators including Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Barrett laid out what she said was a vital but limited role for federal judges. She said that the public shouldn’t expect courts to resolve policy disputes or make value judgments and that judges “should not try” to do so.