Democrats to Boycott Senate Panel Vote on Trump Supreme Court Pick

Democrats will boycott a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee vote scheduled for Thursday on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, a Senate Democratic aide said on Wednesday.

There are 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. Republican Chairman Lindsey Graham has signaled that even with Democrats boycotting Thursday’s vote he will be able to move the nomination forward, according to a panel spokeswoman.

Democrats have opposed Barrett, a federal appeals court judge whose confirmation by the Republican-led Senate would expand the top U.S. judicial body’s conservative majority to 6-3.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has made confirmation of Trump’s conservative judicial appointees a high priority, has been working to get Barrett confirmed to the lifetime post before Election Day on Nov. 3, as the Republican president has requested. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority.

Trump nominated Barrett to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September.

Assuming the Judiciary Committee sends the nomination to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation, McConnell aims to hold a Senate procedural vote on Barrett’s nomination on Sunday, which would limit debate so that a final vote to confirm her could occur sometime on Monday.