Good morning! Here’s how Cascadia’s United States Senators voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Friday, October 30th.
In the United States Senate
CONFIRMING AMY CONEY BARRETT: Voting 52 for and 48 against, the Senate on October 26th confirmed Amy Coney Barrett, 48, as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She had been a federal appeals judge since 2018 and University of Notre Dame law professor starting in 2002.
Republicans said Barrett is a brilliant jurist and person of faith who would respect constitutional wording and the boundaries of settled law in her rulings.
Democrats called her a threat to established law in areas including abortion rights, health care, minorities’ ballot access and LGBTQ rights.
Democrats mocked Republicans for rushing Barrett onto the court days before a presidential election, after having sidelined former President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the court for nearly nine months in 2016 on grounds it was a presidential election year.
John Thune, R‑South Dakota, said: “Judge Barrett brings a clear understanding of the proper role of a judge. She understands that the job of a judge is to interpret the law, not make the law… or, as [she] said in an answer to a senator’s question, ‘I apply the law. I follow the law. You make the policy.’ As [she] made clear in her hearing, she will be the kind of justice who leaves her personal beliefs and political opinions at the courtroom door.”
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑New York, said: “Confirming a lifetime appointment this late into a presidential election season is outrageous. It is even more galling, of course, because [Republicans] refused to even consider the Supreme Court nomination of a Democratic president on the grounds of the principle…that we should wait until after the presidential election because the American people deserved a voice in the selection of their next justice.”
A yes vote was to confirm Barrett as the 115th justice of the Supreme Court.
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Nay (2): | |
Voting Nay (2): |
Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
HOLDING BARRETT VOTE BEFORE ELECTION: Voting 53 for and 46 against, the Senate on October 25th blocked a Democratic motion for adjournment until after November 3rd so that the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation vote would not occur before Americans have chosen their next president.
Donald Trump announced the nomination on September 26th and the Judiciary Committee sent it to the full chamber on October 22nd. A yes vote was to put Barrett on the court before results are known from the presidential election.
Voting Aye (2): | |
Voting Nay (2): | |
Voting Nay (2): |
Cascadia total: 2 aye votes, 4 nay votes
LWIC will be on hiatus next Sunday
Congress will be in recess this week due to the end of voting in the 2020 presidential election. It is expected to reconvene on November 9th.
Editor’s Note: The information in NPI’s weekly How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted feature is provided by Voterama in Congress, a service of Thomas Voting Reports. All rights are reserved. Reproduction of this post is not permitted, not even with attribution. Use the permanent link to this post to share it… thanks!
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