Amy Coney Barrett grilled on Day 2 of Senate confirmation hearings

As with Republicans before her, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., gave Barrett the opportunity to explain the reasoning behind her originalist approach to interpreting the Constitution. 

“Judges are not policymakers. We live in a pluralistic society where we have lots of different views on lots of different matters,” Barrett said. 

"So, who am I or who is any judge to say that their result -- 'oh, just this once I will reach the result that seems the best even if runs against the law that the people have ratified,'" Barrett said. "And so, it would be wrong because I don't think people -- I think I said earlier -- want to live under the law of Amy. We have the United States Constitution and that's what judges should be faithful to," she said.

"I think probably the law of Amy prevails at the Barrett household over those children?" Blackburn said with a smile.

"50/50," Barrett joked.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., fired back at Harris in his line of questioning, claiming that Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., had called Barrett a “liar” when, while she did not use the word, strongly implied that Barrett would not be impartial as she said she would be when it came to considering abortion rights and the ACA.

Kennedy led Barrett through the wording of the Supreme Court oath to administer the law in an impartial manner.

"Are you going to take that oath and affirm it if you are confirmed?" he questioned. "Not lying?"

"Yes," Barrett replied. "Not lying. I took that oath before I began as a judge in the Seventh Circuit. I've never violated that oath. I would take it again. Oaths are serious to me."

“Senator Harris just called you a liar,” Kennedy quipped back. “She said if you take that oath, you would be lying. That you have already made up your mind on how you will vote on some cases, particularly dealing with abortion and the Affordable Care Act. Let's cut to the chase. She said you are a liar. Are you a liar? 

“I am not a liar,” Barrett replied. 

“I want you to tell me again. Look me in the eye. You're in front of God and country. If you take that oath, will you meet it?” Kennedy asked.

“I will,” Barrett answered. 

“Do you swear to God?” he said.

“I swear to God. I have sworn at the Seventh Circuit. I meant it there too,” she said. 

“You will never break that oath? No matter what your personal feelings are? No matter what your religion is?” he continued.

“No matter what my religion is,” she said.

“When Senator Harris and her colleagues say you are a liar, they are wrong?” he finally asked.

“They are,” Barrett said.

Though Barrett has been careful about providing her personal view on abortion, repeatedly citing her responsibility to be impartial as a sitting judge, when asked directly by Kennedy if she has a view on it, Barrett confirmed, “I do have personal feelings about abortion.”

The Democratic nominee for vice president, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., appearing virtually, opened her line of questioning with a 10-minute defense of the Affordable Care Act, arguing Republicans are confirming Barrett before the election so they can achieve their goal of getting the court to strike down the health care law. 

She asked Barrett when she wrote the article which criticized the majority decision of Chief Justice Roberts to uphold the Affordable Care Act, homing in on the timeline.

Barrett said she didn’t remember when she wrote it, but Harris responded that Trump nominated Barrett to the Seventh Circuit court five months after the article was published.

"In other words, the Affordable Care Act and its protections hinge on this seat,” Harris claimed. "You've already opined the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. And that position satisfied the president's promise to only nominate judges who would tear down the Affordable Care Act."

Harris also asked if she was aware of Trump's statements committing to nominate judges who would strike down the Affordable Care Act before she was picked -- to which Barrett said she didn’t recall.

"I want to be very very careful. I'm under oath. As I'm sitting here, I don't recall seeing those statements,” Barrett said.

Highlighting the real-world impact of the health care law, as her Democratic colleagues had before her, Harris then asked, “Would you consider the 135 million people who gained protection under the Affordable Care Act when deciding the case that challenges that law?"

"Senator Harris, if I were to be confirmed and conclude that I was not -- I was able to sit on the case pursuant to the recusal statute and heard the case and decided the case, I would consider all the protections that Congress put in place," Barrett said.

Harris ended her questioning by arguing Barrett has been much less forthcoming than Justice Ginsburg was in her confirmation hearing, specifically when it came to legislation involving reproductive rights, but said the American people should be familiar with Barrett's views by now.

“I would suggest that we not pretend that we don't know how this nominee views a woman's right to choose," she added, referring to Roe v. Wade.

Graham called a 30-minute break shortly after 6:20 p.m. 

Meanwhile, President Trump, leaving for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, told reporters, "I think Amy's doing incredibly well. It's been a great day."