Judiciary Committee Advances Barrett SCOTUS Nomination To Floor Vote Next Wk

The Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the advancement of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination to the Senate floor.

• Democrats boycotted the committee vote, arguing that the confirmation of Barrett is illegitimate so close to a presidential election.
• The full Senate is set to hold a final vote on Barrett's nomination on Monday 26 Oct.
• The Republicans look set to have the votes required to confirm Barrett, with only Lisa Murakowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine stating that they would vote against the appointment. If all other senators vote along party lines it would confirm Barrett by 51 votes to 49.
• Barrett's confirmation would give conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court bench for the foreseeable future, potentially resulting in the repeal of landmark liberal rulings such as Roe vs. Wade.
• Notable focus on whether Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would seek to 'pack' the Supreme Court with more justices in order to 'level' the conservative/liberal balance. In 2019 on the subject Biden said about court packing, "No, I'm not prepared to go on and try to pack the court, because we'll live to rue that day." However, in a town hall event last week Biden said he would lay out his plans for SCOTUS expansion before the election.
• Should the Democrats control both houses of Congress after the election the expansion of the Supreme Court could be expanded via legislation. The main opposition may come in public reaction, which consistently ranks the Supreme Court as the most respected of America's institutions.