Democrats blast Trump’s SC pick

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and others in his party on Saturday blasted President Donald Trump's choice of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, focusing in particular on the threat they said she would pose to healthcare for millions of Americans. 

Trump's announcement during a flag-festooned White House Rose Garden ceremony - with Barrett, 48, by his side and her seven children on hand - sets off a scramble by Senate Republicans to confirm her as the president has requested before Election Day in 5-1/2 weeks, when he will be seeking a second term in office.

If confirmed by the Senate to replace liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at age 87 on Sept. 18, Barrett would become the fifth woman ever to serve on the court and would push its conservative majority to a commanding 6-3.

Like Trump's two other appointees, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett is young enough that she could serve for decades in the lifetime job, leaving a lasting conservative imprint. Barrett is the youngest Supreme Court nominee since conservative Clarence Thomas was 43 in 1991.

During the event, Barret pledged to become a justice in the mold of the late staunch conservative Antonin Scalia.

Scalia, who died in 2016, was one of the most influential conservative justices in recent history. Barrett previously served as a clerk for Scalia on the high court and described him as her mentor, citing his "incalculable influence" on her life.

"His judicial philosophy is mine too: a judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers," Barrett said.

On the court, Scalia voted to curb abortion rights, dissented when the court legalized gay marriage and backed broad gun rights, among other positions.

Barrett, a devout Roman Catholic who earned her law degree and taught at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, was appointed by Trump to the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2017 and is a favorite of religious conservatives, a key Trump voter bloc.

She also praised Ginsburg, saying the late justice was "a woman of enormous talent and consequence" and mentioned Ginsburg's long friendship with Scalia.

Biden noted that even as Trump's administration is seeking to strike down Obamacare in a case the Supreme Court is due to hear on Nov. 10, Barrett has a "written track record" criticising a pivotal 2012 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts preserving the law formally known as the Affordable Care Act.

Biden, seeking to defeat the Republican president on Nov 3, called on the Senate not to act on the court's vacancy caused by the death of Ginsburg until after the Nov. 3 election, allowing the winner to make the appointment.

"The United States Constitution was designed to give the voters one chance to have their voice heard on who serves on the court. That moment is now and their voice should be heard," Biden said.

Senate Republicans refused to consider President Barack Obama's 2016 Supreme Court nominee, saying the winner of that year's election should make the pick.

Democrats said Barrett would vote to dismantle healthcare during a coronavirus pandemic that already has killed more than 200,000 Americans.

"This nomination threatens the destruction of life-saving protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions together with every other benefit and protection of the Affordable Care Act," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Obamacare has helped millions of Americans obtain medical insurance.

Trump wants Barrett confirmed before the election. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority and have committed to moving quickly on confirmation. They cheered Trump's choice.

"President Trump could not have made a better decision," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Judiciary Committee that will conduct confirmation hearings, added, "We move forward on this nomination knowing that the president has picked a highly qualified individual who will serve our nation well on the highest court in the land."

Trump critics also have expressed concern that a hasty confirmation process so close to an election risks further eroding the court's reputation as independent.

But Christian conservative and anti-abortion activists, who praised the choice, urged senators to move quickly and warned Democrats not to attack Barrett's religious faith.

Abortion rights groups said Barrett's addition to the court could jeopardize the landmark 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.

"The Supreme Court has a vital role in protecting and upholding civil rights and liberties - including reproductive rights - for everyone in the United States. We cannot barrel forward with a nomination that will impact people's lives for generations," said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

"Justice Ginsburg must be turning over in her grave up in heaven," top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said, "to see that the person they chose seems to be intent on undoing all the things that Ginsburg did."

Democrats, however, have been careful not to make mention of Barrett's faith, worried that their opposition could be used as fodder for Republican claims of anti-Catholic bias. Still, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio -- earlier on Saturday -- tweeted a video clip suggesting just that.

"Today the assault may be on Catholicism," Rubio wrote. "But tomorrow, no religion will be safe from the same attacks And then the message will be clear, if you want to serve in public office, especially on the highest court in the land, only those willing to hide or deny their faith need apply."

In his comments to camera, Rubio referenced the now infamous line of questioning from California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who said of Barrett at her 2017 hearing, "the dogma lives loudly within you."

That comment roiled Catholic conservatives and led Republicans to accuse Democrats of imposing "religious tests" on judicial nominees. Democrats, this time out, appear determined to steer clear of the headlines that followed.