Amy Coney Barrett grilled on Day 2 of Senate confirmation hearings

Barrett looked uncomfortable with questions raised by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who asked generally about the powers of a president but Barrett noted their current relevancy.

"Do you believe that every president should make a commitment unequivocally and resolutely for the peaceful transfer of power?" he asked.

"Well, Senator, that seems to me to be pulling me in a little bit into this question of whether the president has said he would not peacefully leave office. To this extent that it's a political controversy, as a judge I want to stay out of it," Barrett replied, before calling the historic peaceful transfer of power "one of the beauties of America."

"Do you think the president has the power to pardon himself or any past or future crimes he may have committed against the United States of America?" he asked.

"Senator Booker, that would be a constitutional question. In keeping with my obligation not to give hints, previews or forecasts of how I would resolve the case, that's not one I can answer," Barrett replied. 

Booker also asked if it is unreasonable for those who rely on the Affordable Care Act to believe it might be overturned if she were to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. 

"All I'm asking is can you empathize with that?" Booker pressed. "Can you understand that?"

"Senator, I can certainly empathize with people who are struggling. I can empathize with people who lack health care," Barrett said. "One of the things that was so striking to me when we went to get our daughter, Vivian, from the orphanage in Haiti, the lack of access to basic things like antibiotics. It made me appreciate the fact that we have access to health care. I can certainly empathize with all of that."

She went on to say, "With respect to the ACA, should I be confirmed and as I've said I would consider the issue of recusal, threshold question of law and whether to hear that case."

"As a guy who looks at justices, I was asking you to express that you understand the fear that is in America right now," Booker said.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, calling Republicans "hypocritical," said, "This hearing shows the American public exactly what my Republican colleagues' priorities are, ramming through another ideologically-driven justice to the Supreme Court instead of helping the people in our country suffering during this pandemic."

Hirono then asked if Barrett will consider the “real-world impact” of striking down the Affordable Care Act, noting that she and other Democrats have told stories of their constituents who rely on the law. 

"Senator, to be clear, I have the utmost empathy, the stories, you know, that you have told, including the story of Veronica's family are very moving. If I were a justice, the commitment that I would make to you and all people affected by the laws is that I would follow the law as you enacted it," Barrett said. "I would do equal justice under the law for all and not try to thwart or disrupt in any way the policy choices that you and your colleagues have adopted."

Not satisfied with her answer, Hirono pressed Barrett, who reiterated her belief that Congress sets the policy and its up to the court to interpret whether those policies are constitutional, effectively refusing to reveal how she might decide on the highly-consequential case before the court on Nov. 10. 

"No case comes before a court unless it involves real live people who've had a real-live dispute, and it is the job of a judge deciding every case to take into account the real-world consequences of the parties before it," Barrett said. 

"So are you aligning yourself with Justice Ginsburg in terms of what you would consider real-life impacts and the effect it would have on your decision regarding the law?" Hirono asked. 

"I don't know what context -- the particular context in which Justice Ginsburg was describing that. I think what I'm trying to align myself with is the law. And I will take into account all factors, including real-world impacts, when the law makes them relevant. As it clearly does, for example, in the doctrine of stare decisis," Barrett said.

Hirono also argued Barrett’s use of the term "sexual preference" instead of "sexual orientation" -- coupled with her view that constitutionality should overtake precedent -- worry a large part of the LGBT community. Hirono called the term "outdated" and one used to claim homosexuality is a "choice."

"I don't think that you use the term sexual preference as just -- I don't think it was an accident," Hirono said. The next senator to speak, Republican Joni Ernst of Iowa, gave Barrett the opportunity to respond, and Barrett clarified she did not mean to cause offense with her prior use of term. "I certainly didn't mean, and, you know, would never mean to use a term that would cause any offense in the LGBTQ community. If I did, I greatly apologize for that. I simply meant to be referring to Obergerfeld's holding with respect to same-sex marriage," she said.

After a short break, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., addressing whether Barrett would participate in any cases involving the presidential election if confirmed, argued that President Trump has made it so that an appearance of bias is unavoidable. 

"I continue to believe that if you were to participate in a decision involving that election, it would do enduring and explosive damage to the court," he said.

"I think you know it would be wrong. Not because of anything you've done. In fact, I am not raising the issue of whether you've done any sort of deal -- because of what Donald Trump has done."

"The president has said that he is putting you on the court as the ninth justice so you can decide the election. He's been very clear and transparent. And the American people are not dumb. They are watching and listening, and if you were to sit on this case, if it goes to this Supreme Court, the American people would lose faith and trust in the court itself," Blumenthal said. 

"It would be a dagger at the heart of the court and our democracy if this election is decided by the court rather than the American voters, so I wanted to begin by making that point," he added. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., gave Barrett the opportunity to explain the "right to life" advertisement she and her husband signed in 2006 that Democrats argue shows she is a threat to Roe v. Wade. 

"You said you signed it on your way out of church, if I remember correctly?" Hawley asked. 

"I did," Barrett said, recalling when she signed it. "That was almost 15 years ago. There was a table set up for people on their way out of Mass to sign a statement validating their commitment to the position of the Catholic Church on life issues. The ad that was next to it. I don't recall seeing at the time and in context looking at it, looked to me like that was an ad by the St. Joseph County Right to Life group. The statement that I signed was affirming the protection of life from conception to natural death," she said. 

Barrett emphasized that she signed it in her "personal capacity still as a private citizen."

"Now I am a public official, so while I was free to express my private views at that time, I don't feel like it is appropriate for me anymore because of the canons of conduct to express an affirmative view at this point in time," she said.