Barrett faces confirmation gauntlet in Capitol shuttered by coronavirus – By Gary Martin (Las Vegas Review-Journal) / Oct 10 2020
WASHINGTON — A hyper-charged atmosphere of political division awaits Judge Amy Coney Barrett this week when Senate hearings begin on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But COVID-19 and the looming general election ensure this will be a confirmation process like none before.
The hostile environment was created decades ago when Democrats rejected conservative Judge Robert Bork for a spot on the high court and then battered Clarence Thomas, another conservative, before ultimately confirming him. Republicans delivered a measure of payback when senators ignored the 2016 nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, denying President Barack Obama’s pick an election-year hearing and vote.
It exploded again two years ago, when Democrats rallied behind eleventh-hour charges of sexual assault, stemming from encounters that allegedly occurred decades ago, against conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace retiring swing Justice Anthony Kennedy. The scorched-earth political firestorm delayed a committee vote, sparked protests, prompted angry confrontations between protesters and GOP senators and infuriated Republicans.
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