Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing: Day 1

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett praised the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for opening doors, even though the two women are ideological opposites.

"I come before this Committee with humility about the responsibility I have been asked to undertake, and with appreciation for those who came before me," Barrett told lawmakers.

"When I was 21 years old and just beginning my career, Ruth Bader Ginsburg sat in this seat," Barrett continued.

The Supreme Court nominee said it would be "the honor of a lifetime" to serve on the highest court, and she highlighted the "new perspectives" she could bring to the bench, including being the the first mother of school-age children to serve on the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett's opening statement focused on how her mentor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, influenced her career and the opportunity to be nominated to the Supreme Court.

Barrett said Scalia taught her "more than just law" and he was "devoted to his family, resolute in his beliefs, and fearless of criticism."

Throughout her legal career, Barrett said she resolved to maintain the same perspective as Scalia.

"There is a tendency in our profession to treat the practice of law as all-consuming, while losing sight of everything else. But that makes for a shallow and unfulfilling life," Barrett said.

Barrett, the mother of seven children, also used her remarks to describe her connection and dedication to her family.

"I am used to being in a group of nine—my family. Nothing is more important to me, and I am so proud to have them behind me," she said.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, was just sworn in at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing.

She's now delivering her opening statement before the committee.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee this morning delivered their opening statements to kick off the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Barrett will soon give her own opening remarks. If you're just reading in now, here are the key moments from the hearing:

Sen. Kamala Harris slammed Senate GOP members for pushing through the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett as an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act through the Supreme Court.

Harris emphasized that President Trump and Republican members of Congress were unable to repeal the law, despite their many efforts, and doing so through the Supreme Court is going against what the American people want.

"That's why President Trump promised to only nominate judges who will get rid of the Affordable Care Act," Harris said.

Harris added that the rush from Republicans to push through Barrett before the election is "to ensure they can strip away the protections" of the ACA when the Supreme Court takes up the case on Nov. 10.

Read Harris' full prepared opening statement here.

Watch here:

Sen. Kamala Harris said the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Judge Amy Coney Barrett should have been postponed because of coronavirus concerns, saying the committee has not taken enough precautions to keep people safe.

She said not postponing the confirmation hearing puts people at risk and pauses talks about additional coronavirus relief funding.

“This hearing should have been postponed,” Harris said. “The decision to hold this hearing now is reckless and places facilities workers, janitorial staff and congressional aides and Capitol Police at risk. Not to mention while tens of millions of Americans are struggling to pay their bills, the Senate should be prioritizing coronavirus relief and providing financial support to those families," she said.

Harris said continuing with the hearing shows that "Republicans have made it crystal clear that rushing a Supreme Court nomination is more important than helping and supporting the American people who are suffering from a deadly pandemic and economic crisis."

"Their priorities are not the American people's priorities," she added.

Watch:

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, responded to President Trump's tweet about skipping the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett and moving straight to a vote.  

“With all due respect to the President, the committee is following the traditions of the committee,” Graham told reporters, which allows for opening statements from members and questioning of the nominee.

Graham said, “We will proceed forward in the way that we have in the past.”

Trump on Twitter this morning said: "The Republicans are giving the Democrats a great deal of time, which is not mandated, to make their self serving statements relative to our great new future Supreme Court Justice. Personally, I would pull back, approve, and go for STIMULUS for the people!!!"

When asked by CNN’s Manu Raju if he thinks members should be tested for Covid-19, Graham replied, “I don’t know what it’s like at CNN, but you can’t demand that all of your colleagues be tested before you go to work if there is no reason.”

The senator said that he was tested “a week ago Friday” and that he feels fine.

In perhaps the most heated statements so far in today's hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, attacked Democrats for what he perceived to be veiled attacks on Amy Coney Barrett's Catholicism — something he called a “pattern and practice of religious bigotry.” 

But in reality, today it has been Republicans, not Democrats who have referred to her religion. As for Barrett, she plans to nod to it in her opening statement where she will say that she believes in the power of prayer. 

Hawley specifically pointed to Barrett’s confirmation hearing from 2017 when top-ranked Democratic member Sen. Dianne Feinstein pressed her on her writing about faith and the law. In a tense exchange, the Democratic senator questioned whether the judicial nominee could separate her Catholic views from her legal opinions.

"The conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you," Feinstein pointedly said. "And that's of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this county."

The exchange invigorated and emboldened conservatives who said she had been a victim of anti-Catholic bias.

Today Hawley said, “When you tell somebody that they're too Catholic to be on the bench, when you tell them they're going to be a Catholic judge, not an American judge, that's bigotry,” he said. 

“The pattern and practice of bigotry from members of this committee must stop,” he said, adding, “And I would expect that it be renounced."

Other Republicans, Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Ben Sasse, have talked about religion.  

But Democrats like Sen. Chris Coons have said that they will concentrate not on religious liberty but on what she has written. 

The majority of the Supreme Court now is Catholic.

Watch:

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is back after a short recess, and Sen. Kamala Harris is set to deliver her opening statement soon remotely from her Senate office.

Close allies of the California senator cautioned that viewers tuning in shouldn't expect those kind of fireworks from the vice presidential candidate.  

This time, Harris is playing a much more complex dual role, a Judiciary Committee member valued by her party for her courtroom skills, but also the running mate of a Democratic presidential nominee who has condemned the divisive, angry politics of Washington and is promising to be a president to people all political persuasions.

Instead, advisers say, Harris, along with her fellow Democrats on the committee, will keep the focus on health care and what Barrett's confirmation could mean for the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Read more here.