Amy Coney Barrett begins Supreme Court confirmation hearing

Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, noted the bipartisan confirmation votes of Justices Ginsburg and Scalia raised earlier -- before dismissing the chance of that in the current Senate. 

“The reason those votes were so overwhelming was because people lived by the rules. They lived by the traditions of the Senate and they had mutual respect for one another. We know now that this process does not adhere to those guidelines,” Durbin said, arguing that the nomination was rushed and noting some background paperwork on Barrett is still missing. 

“Their haste, the haste in this pursuit set before us today is unfair to the Senate and unfair really to the nominee,” he said. 

Durbin then outlined the “McConnell Rule.”

"On February 13, 2016, when Justice Scalia passed away, Senator McConnell said at the time, “The American people should have a voice in this election of their Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”

“In 2016, Senator McConnell says give them a voice. Now he says don't give them a voice. It is a shameless self-serving reversal,” Durbin said, noting the election is 22 days away.

“Why are Senate Republicans so afraid to give the American people a voice about the future of the Supreme Court? First they must doubt that Donald Trump will be re-elected. Second, they want a 6-3 Supreme Court to carry out a Republican agenda that is really not very popular with the American people,” Durbin said, raising the Affordable Care Act and election-related cases that may come before the Court, and using his constituents to put a face to the debate. 

“Judge Barrett, your nomination for the highest court in the land comes under a cloud. You've been nominated by a president who shows contempt for the Constitution, but does not hesitate to tell his loyal followers you are being sent to the bench to do his political chores. Abolish the ACA, rule in his favor, and more,” Durbin concluded. “You cannot feel good about a president cheapening this historic moment.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., hit on the shame he said Republicans should feel as Barrett’s nomination ceremony took place just one week after the passing of Justice Ginsburg. 

“We should not have had a nomination ceremony before Justice Ginsburg was even buried, while the nation was mourning her passing,” Leahy said. “We should not be here, holding that hearing just 16 days later when the committee has afforded itself three times as long to vet other nominees to the nation's highest court.”

Leahy also noted the number of Republicans he said have gone “back on their word” as they push the nomination through when millions of Americans have already voted just three weeks from a presidential election. 

“Doing so requires literally half of the Senate, goes back on their word. Think of that for the Republican colleagues. Clearly half of the Senate had to break their word, contradicting every argument they've made for years, about the American people needing a voice during election year vacancies,” he continued. 

Leahy, as did Feinstein, said in addition to the rushed nature of the nomination, his constituents are “scared” about the fate of the Affordable Care Act should Barrett be confirmed to the court. 

“That is what weighs heavily on me as we begin these hearings and also weighs heavily on the minds of those I represent, and I have heard from them, as Justice Ginsburg's passing, they are scared, Judge Barrett,” Leahy said.

“They are scared that you will rip away the health care protections that millions of Americans ought to maintain and which Congress has repeatedly worked on eliminating. They're scared that the clock will be turned back to where women had no right to control their own bodies and when it was acceptable to discriminate against women in the workplace. They're scared that there is a time when we are facing the perilous impacts of climate change... And they're scared that your confirmation will result in the rolling back of voting rights, workers' rights, and the rights of the LGBTQ community to equal treatment," Leahy said.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in his opening statement, quoted from Justice Ginsburg’s eulogy for Justice Scalia in a likely short-lived attempt to appeal to bipartisanship ahead of what will be a contentious week. 

“The Senate is now tasked with carrying out perhaps its most solemn duty under the Constitution, as we go through this process, we should heed Justice Ginsburg's words with a shared reverence for the Court, and its part of our constitutional system,” he said.

Gearing up for Democratic attacks, Grassley then said he expects his colleagues will do “anything to derail the confirmation of a Republican nominee" and cautioned them not to allow this hearing to unfold as Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s did.

Expecting her Catholic faith to come up in the hearing, Grassley also reminded everyone of Barrett's rights.

“Let me remind everyone that Article One clearly prohibits religious tests for serving in public office,” Grassley continued. “I expect that you will follow the example of Justice Ginsburg, a nominee should offer no forecast, no hints of how he or she will vote, because that's the role of a judge,” he said, in an apparent reference to the so-called “Ginsburg Rule” con concerning what nominees can say at confirmation hearings.

Setting the tone for Democrats, Ranking Member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., gave a nod to the legacy of the late Justice Ginsburg -- calling her a "standard-bearer for justice” -- before offering a preview of what her Democrats will focus on: Judge Barrett’s views on the Affordable Care Act and what she called the “consequences” of a rushed nomination.

“In filling Judge Ginsburg's seat, the stakes are extraordinarily high for the American people both in the short term and for decades to come. Most importantly, health care coverage, for millions of Americans, is at stake with this nomination,” Feinstein said. “So, over the course of these hearings, my colleagues and I will focus on that subject.”

“We will examine the consequences if, and that's a big " if," Republicans succeed in rushing this nomination through the Senate, before the next president takes office,” she continued, despite Republicans saying they're confident they can get a final vote before Election Day.

The Court is slated to hear oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, which the Trump administration is seeking to overturn, one week after the election on Nov. 10., raising concern among Democrats on its fate amid a pandemic.

“We can't afford to go back to those days, when Americans could be denied coverage or charged exorbitant amounts. That's what's at stake for many of us, for America, with this nomination,” she said. 

Feinstein also quoted Graham from when he previously said that a Supreme Court nominee shouldn't be confirmed when voting is underway.