Supreme Court nominee Barrett says no promises have been made

WASHINGTON — At one point, senators stopped asking questions of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett during her second day of confirmation hearings Tuesday.

Maybe it’s a sign that members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have conceded the outcome that she will emerge from this week’s hearings with a partisan endorsement: Republicans will vote to move her confirmation forward to the full Senate while Democrats will vote against that.

For nearly two hours, senators practically stopped probing Barrett about judicial philosophy and spent their 30-minute speaking slots making speeches and attacking the other side.

Utah Republican Mike Lee spoke at length about abortion. Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, without asking a single question, spoke about the “dark money’ scheme he said is infiltrating politics and court appointments. Texas Republican Ted Cruz talked about the Ten Commandments and the Second Amendment before asking Barrett about her piano skills.

In between, Cruz asked Barrett about her proficiency in the French language (so-so) and why she adopted two children from Haiti (she and her then-fiancée Jesse wanted to adopt after meeting other couples who did).

“It really has enriched our family immeasurably,” she told Cruz.

He then asked her what advice she would give young girls:

“I was thinking about what my dad told me before a spelling bee that whatever boys can do, girls can do better,” she said. “And since my sons are sitting behind me, I’ll say boys are great too.”

Barrett: No promises on future rulings

Barrett paused to make clear that she hadn't made any guarantees on how she would rule on cases that come before the Supreme Court, including to President Donald Trump before he nominated her.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Barrett during the second day of her confirmation hearings about the "suspicion" over whether she'd made any commitments on any issues, including how she might rule on the Affordable Care Act.

"I want to be very, very clear about this Sen. Grassley. The answer is no," she said. "No one ever talked about any case with me. No one on the executive branch side of it."

Before nominating Barrett to the high court, Trump told reporters he wanted to fill the vacancy with his pick in case there was an Election Day legal dispute. The admission led to calls by Democrats that Barrett should recuse from ruling on any case centering on Election Day results.

Barrett came to the second day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing with an agenda: to assure senators she has no agenda.

Not on abortion. Not on guns (and her family does own one). Not on health care or anything else.

While her mentor, former Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, famously had opinions on everything and expressed them freely, “If I’m confirmed you would not be getting Justice Scalia, you would be getting Justice Barrett.”

If confirmed and hearing controversial cases on the high court, Barrett said she would read the briefs, hear the arguments and consult with her clerks and colleagues before rendering a decision.

“Judges can’t just wake up one day and say ‘I have an agenda’ … like a royal queen,” she said.

Whitehouse outlines 'dark money' schemes

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., reiterated concerns he had about the influence of special interest groups and “dark money,” or funds raised by organizations not required to disclose donors, leading up to Barrett’s nomination to the Court.

“Something is not right around the court. And dark money has a lot to do with it. Special interests have a lot to do with it," he said, outlining “schemes” in which donors picked judges, funded influence campaigns to support the judges, and then funded campaigns to “tell the judges what to do.”

"The Republican party platform tells us to look at how they want judges to rule to reverse Roe, to reverse Obamacare cases, and to reverse Obergefell and take away gay marriage. That is their stated objective and plan,” he said. “Why not take them at their word?"

Whitehouse also brought up his concerns about outside interest groups when he spoke with Barrett on by phone last week.

Republicans counter that Democrats have themselves taken advantage of “dark money” from outside groups like Demand Justice to oppose Barrett’s nomination.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who spoke after Whitehouse, called Democratic critiques of dark money "deeply, deeply, hypocritical" because Ds collect more funds from Super PACs.

Whitehouse finished his speech without asking the judge a question, telling her, “this gives a chance for you and I to have an interesting discussion tomorrow.”

'Wept' after George Floyd's death

Amy Coney Barrett's voice started to crack as she discussed footage of a Minneapolis officer kneeling on George Floyd's neck and the impact it had on her family this summer.

Barrett, who has seven children including two she adopted from Haiti, told Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that she sat down with her teenage daughter, who is Black, and cried.

Durbin had asked Barrett if she had seen the video during her confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"As you might imagine, given that I have two Black children, that was very, very personal for my family," Barrett said about the footage of Floyd's arrest.

Barrett said when the video was publicized, her husband was camping with their sons and she was home with her 17-year-old daughter, who was born in Haiti.

"All of this was erupting. It was very difficult for her," Barrett said. "We wept together in my room."

She noted that her family has had continued discussions about racism and how she tried to explain it to her young children.

"I mean, my children, to this point in their lives, have had the benefit of growing up in a cocoon where they have not experienced hatred or violence," she said.

Durbin then asked whether there is racism still in the U.S. and whether it is systemic in America.

"I think it is an entirely uncontroversial and obvious statement, given that we just discussed the George Floyd video, that racism persists in our country," Barrett said.

She added that while racism still is a problem, she could not say whether it is systemic or how to fix it.

"Those things are policy questions. They are hotly contested policy questions," she said, noting that diagnosing the issue of racism was "beyond what I am capable of doing as a judge."

Floyd, a Black man, died after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes in May. The footage of his death sparked massive protests in cities across the U.S. and deeper discussions about racism in America.

Possible recusal from election disputes

Senate Judiciary Democrats have seized on comments that President Donald Trump wants a Supreme Court justice seated quickly in case there’s a dispute over ballots or other procedures from the Nov. 3 election.

On the second day of confirmation hearings Tuesday, Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy pressed Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on whether she should recuse herself if a case arises that could decide the presidency since it would involve someone who just nominated her to the high court.

“Let me be clear I've made no commitments to anyone, not in the Senate, not over at the White House about how I would decide, any case,” Barrett told Leahy.

She declined to speak specifically about a recusal from any election case, saying she would follow court procedure and consult with the other members of the court before deciding whether to participate in the ruling.

“So, I can't offer an opinion on recusal without short circuiting that entire process,” she said.

Leahy said the president’s statements about needing a justice seated soon – as well as his frequent comments questioning the legitimacy of mail-in ballots – have compromised not only her but the entire court.

“Whether you like it or not, the president’s placed both you and the Supreme Court in the worst of positions,” he told her.