Schumer, D-N.Y., with no Republicans on the ground to object to the transfer, filed cloture on the laws. Usually it’s only the bulk chief who information cloture however Schumer has in latest days been utilizing Senate process to place as a lot strain on Republicans as attainable over the Barrett nomination, which Democrats say places the ACA at risk as a consequence of earlier feedback she made in regards to the legislation earlier than being confirmed to the federal bench.
“Nov 10—Trump admin will argue within the Supreme Court docket to tear well being care from tens of millions & finish pre-existing situation protections,” Schumer mentioned in a Tuesday tweet. “I took extraordinary procedural steps to arrange a Senate vote to dam Invoice Barr from persevering with to help the lawsuit. Senate GOP: Time so that you can vote.”
Schumer’s effort doesn’t have the votes to proceed, however a method or one other it’s going to power Senate Republicans to go on the document on the ACA, often known as Obamacare. The Senate may merely vote on the movement, which wants 60 yeas to proceed, or Republicans may transfer to put aside the movement, which would wish simply 51 yeas. Both method, Republicans would virtually definitely win the vote.
This was not the primary instance of procedural gymnastics from Schumer since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, opening a emptiness on the Supreme Court docket.
With electorally weak Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., chairing Senate proceedings, Schumer final week requested whether or not there was precedent for Supreme Court docket nominees being confirmed between July and Election Day of a presidential election 12 months. Loeffler on the time replied that there was not, based on Senate data. She later pushed again with a press release for the document that famous three justices had been confirmed in July through the late 1800s and early 1900s.
And earlier than that Schumer invoked the rarely-used “two-hour rule” to forestall the Senate Intelligence Committee from assembly for a briefing. The rule bars committee conferences with out either side’ consent after the Senate has been in session for greater than two hours. He mentioned, referencing Republicans’ plans to substantiate a Trump Supreme Court docket nominee earlier than the election, that “as a result of Senate Republicans don’t have any respect for the establishment” he wouldn’t permit “common order.”
Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., known as Schumer’s motion a “mood tantrum.”
Republicans, apparently predicting Schumer would once more attempt to use the two-hour rule, adjourned the Senate till midday on Wednesday so he could not block the Senate Judiciary Committee listening to at 10 a.m. with former FBI Director James Comey.
The genesis of this struggle is Republicans’ insistence that they are going to fill the Supreme Court docket seat vacated by Ginsburg earlier than the election and Democrats’ need to carry it open to be crammed by whoever wins the presidential election on Nov. 3 — they hope it is their celebration’s nominee, Joe Biden.
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REPUBLICANS EYE AMY CONEY BARRETT SENATE FLOOR VOTE AT END OF OCTOBER, JUST DAYS BEFORE ELECTION
Democrats have accused Republicans of rank hypocrisy for shifting to fill the seat simply weeks earlier than the presidential election after they held open late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat for months earlier than the 2016 presidential election. Republicans have responded by noting Democrats have modified their stance too. Republicans have additionally mentioned that usually when the Senate and White Home are managed by the identical celebration, election-year Supreme Court docket vacancies are crammed and when they’re managed by totally different events the vacancies stay open. So, Republicans say, they’re following what has traditionally occurred.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had beforehand promised that if a emptiness got here up through the closing 12 months of Trump’s time period he would maintain it open, has additionally mentioned that after Democrats’ therapy of Justice Brett Kavanaugh throughout his 2016 affirmation, any earlier guarantees about judicial nominees are out the window.
President Trump on the Tuesday presidential debate maybe summed the Republicans’ argument up most succinctly.
“I will let you know very merely, we gained the election. Elections have penalties. Now we have the Senate, we now have the White Home, and we now have an exceptional nominee,” Trump mentioned. “They’d [Obama Supreme Court nominee] Merrick Garland. However the issue is that they did not have the election, so that they had been stopped.”
However, a Supreme Court docket seat has by no means been crammed this near a presidential election, so Republicans are performing with out precedent on that time. Biden on the debate identified that ballots are already being forged — based on the U.S. Elections Challenge, greater than 1 million to this point.
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AMY CONEY BARRETT’S 65-PAGE RESPONSE TO JUDICIARY COMMITTEE QUESTIONNAIRE RELEASED
And after the official nomination of Barrett on Saturday, Democrats have moved the ACA to middle stage within the struggle over her nomination, warning People that she places their well being care at risk.
“By nominating Decide Barrett to the Supreme Court docket, President Trump has put People’ well being care at grave threat,” Schumer mentioned at a Saturday night press convention in New York Metropolis. “And as COVID-19 continues and we’d like extra well being care, the nomination by President Trump of Amy Coney Barrett will imply much less well being take care of over 100 million People.”
The Supreme Court docket is about to listen to California v. Texas, a high-stakes case on the constitutionality of the ACA, on Nov. 10, only a couple weeks after Barrett will possible be seated on the court docket. The purple states, led by Texas, that originally introduced the case purpose to invalidate the ACA on the grounds that its particular person mandate — which was upheld by the Supreme Court docket beforehand as a tax — is now unconstitutional as a result of Congress eradicated the monetary penalty related to not buying medical insurance.
They are saying this makes it inconceivable to learn the ACA as a tax anymore, so it’s now merely an unconstitutional authorities mandate to buy a sure product.
SCHUMER PUTS HEALTH CARE ON FOREFRONT AS DEMS PREPARE TO FIGHT AMY CONEY BARRETT NOMINATION
Barrett, earlier than being confirmed to her present appeals court docket publish, had been seen as crucial of the Supreme Court docket resolution upholding the ACA, NFIB v. Sebelius. She wrote in a 2017 article that “[t]o the extent that NFIB v. Sebelius expresses a dedication to judicial restraint by creatively decoding ostensibly clear statutory textual content, its method is at odds with the statutory textualism to which most originalists subscribe.”
Barrett, an ideological disciple of Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she was a legislation clerk, is taken into account to be one of many foremost originalists within the U.S.
“Thus Justice Scalia, criticizing the bulk’s building of the Inexpensive Care Act in each NFIB v. Sebelius and King v. Burwell, protested that the statute often known as Obamacare ought to be renamed ‘SCOTUScare’ in honor of the Court docket’s willingness to ‘rewrite’ the statute as a way to hold it afloat,” she wrote.
It nevertheless just isn’t a assure that if the Supreme Court docket invalidates the person mandate it’s going to overturn the ACA solely. The justices, in the event that they resolve that the mandate is unconstitutional, would then think about whether or not it is “severable” from the remainder of the legislation. Some authorized observers word that although the person mandate was central to the ACA when it was handed, intervening congressional motion has made it much less necessary and thus probably severable.
PENCE URGES DEMS TO MEET WITH BARRETT, SAYS SUPREME COURT NOMINEE WOULD ‘UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION’
Both method, Democrats have deserted such nuances of their effort to cease the Barrett affirmation, which they warn would result in an finish of insurance coverage protections for individuals with pre-existing situations.
“Make no mistake: A vote by any Senator for Decide Barrett is a vote to remove well being care and get rid of protections for tens of millions with pre-existing situations,” Schumer mentioned in a tweet. “Democrats are preventing for People’ well being care.”
Republicans have mentioned that regardless of the result of the California v. Texas case they are going to protect insurance coverage protections for these with pre-existing situations. Trump issued an government order on the matter final week, however Democrats have mentioned it would not have any power — Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., mentioned the order “isn’t definitely worth the paper it’s signed on.”
Democrats hope their procedural techniques and insistence on making well being care a front-burner situation will persuade average or electorally weak Republicans to affix them in making an attempt to place off a affirmation vote on Barrett till at the very least after the election. That is all they’ll hope for, nevertheless, as a result of Republicans with none surprising defections have the votes to push by the Barrett nomination.
There are 53 Republican senators and solely Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, have mentioned they’ve objections to processing the nomination earlier than the election. If Murkowski and Collins each vote towards Barrett, Republicans can nonetheless lose yet one more vote and have Vice President Pence break a tie.
It doesn’t seem that another GOP senators, having expressed no objections in regards to the course of, would out of the blue resolve to oppose a Republican president’s Supreme Court docket nominee. However Barrett’s nomination nonetheless has quite a few hurdles to clear, together with conferences with senators, intense media scrutiny, days of hearings, a committee vote and at last a flooring vote — and that is if issues go as deliberate for Republicans.
Schumer has made clear he and his fellow Democrats will resist these efforts each step of the best way, and Obamacare is about to be the central situation.
“After failing greater than 70 occasions to repeal the ACA in Congress, Republicans now wish to rush Decide Barrett’s affirmation so she might help strike down the ACA within the Supreme Court docket,” Senate Judiciary Committee Rating Member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mentioned Wednesday. “What the President and congressional Republicans have did not do legislatively, they are going to attempt to do by the courts.”
Fox Information’ Chad Pergram, Paul Steinhauser and Jason Donner contributed to this report.
Tyler Olson covers politics for FoxNews.com. You may contact him at tyler.olson@foxnews.com and observe him on Twitter at @TylerOlson1791.