Washington, Oct. 14, (dpa/GNA) – Amy Coney Barrett, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, will face further questioning from the US Senate on Wednesday as part of her confirmation hearings.
Lawmakers will likely use the second day of the question-and-answer session to continue to raise key issues like health care and abortion.
Each senator on the judiciary committee has extensive time to question the judge.
On Tuesday, Barrett stressed that she is committed to separating her private beliefs, including her religious convictions, from any judicial decisions, saying that to do otherwise would violate her judicial oath.
She repeatedly declined, however, to specify how she would vote on cases before the court, arguing that she would have to weigh each case on the merits following judicial processes.
Barrett, 48, is Trump’s pick to replace former justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon who died last month after a battle with cancer.
If confirmed, she would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority, though the court’s rulings are often not along strict ideological lines.
Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the judiciary committee, has said
The hearings are due to run through Thursday with a vote by the Senate’s judiciary committee on October 22, according to committee chairman Lindsey Graham.
Her nomination will then go to the entire Senate, which must confirm her appointment.
Graham said a vote before the 100-member Senate will likely take place “no later” than October 27, a week before the presidential election.
Democrats have decried nominating a judge so close to an election, saying the winner in November should decide on filling the vacancy.
GNA