The New York Times - USA (2020-10-26)

A20 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONALMONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2020

WASHINGTON — A divisive
drive to confirm Judge Amy Co-
ney Barrett to the Supreme Court
before Election Day wound on
Sunday toward its expected end,
as Senate Republicans overcame
Democratic protests to limit de-
bate and set up a final confirma-
tion vote for Monday.
Two Republicans, Susan Collins
of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska, joined united Democrats
in an attempt to filibuster Presi-
dent Trump’s nominee to protest a
decision they say should be left to
the winner of the presidential
election. But Republicans had the
simple majority they needed to
blow past them, setting up the
vote to confirm Judge Barrett just
eight days before the election and
a month to the day after she was
chosen.
The tally was 51 to 48. Republi-
cans were expected to win back
Ms. Murkowski’s vote on Monday,
though not that of Ms. Collins.
Senator Kamala Harris of Califor-
nia, the Democratic nominee for
vice president, spent the day cam-
paigning and did not vote.
Republicans, who have been on
a mad dash to fill the vacancy
caused by the death last month of
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
planned to keep the Senate in ses-
sion overnight to speed things up
further. Thirty hours must elapse
between the vote to limit debate
and final confirmation, and Demo-
crats would not agree to recess.
For an aging body that prefers
light working hours, the unusual
all-nighter only underscored what

was at stake. Judge Barrett’s as-
cension would lock in a 6-to-3 con-
servative majority on the court, a
Republican accomplishment dec-
ades in the making. Her lifetime
appointment could reshape abor-
tion rights, immigration law and
the government’s regulatory
power, as well as put a check on
Democrats should they win back
the White House and the Senate
next week, as they are favored to
do. It could also have immediate
implications as the court contin-
ues to act on emergency voting-
related cases before the Nov. 3 bal-
loting.
“We’ve made an important con-
tribution to the future of this coun-
try,” Senator Mitch McConnell,
Republican of Kentucky and the
majority leader, said in a speech
just after the vote. “A lot of what
we’ve done over the last four
years will be undone sooner or lat-
er by the next election. They won’t
be able to do much about this for a
long time to come.”
Democrats tried to color the
confirmation process as an illegit-
imate power grab by Republicans,
who had blockaded a Supreme
Court nominee from President
Barack Obama in 2016, citing the
coming election that year. They
planned floor speeches making
the case against Judge Barrett
into the early hours of Monday
morning. But with the election at
hand, their goal was not so much
to stop the confirmation as to use
it as a rallying cry for their voter
base.
“I want to be very clear with the
American people about what is
going on here,” said Senator
Chuck Schumer of New York, the
Democratic leader. “The Republi-
can Senate majority is breaking
faith with you, doing the exact op-
posite of what it promised just
four years ago to cement a major-
ity on the Supreme Court that
threatens your fundamental
rights.”
He added, “Don’t forget it,
America.”
Partisan fights over the direc-
tion of the federal courts have es-
calated rapidly in recent years, as
Congress has ceased to regularly
legislate and both parties have in-
creasingly looked to the courts to
enact their visions for the country.
But the confirmation wars ap-
peared to be headed to a new, bit-
ter low on Monday. For the first
time in recent memory, not one
member of the minority party, in
this case the Democrats, was ex-
pected to vote for confirmation. A
single Democrat, Joe Manchin III
of West Virginia, had supported
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in
2018.
Democrats oppose Judge Bar-
rett ideologically, but their opposi-
tion has little to do with the nomi-
nee herself.

With more than 50 million votes

already cast, Democrats insist the

winner of the election should be

allowed to fill the seat. They have

accused Republicans of rank hy-

pocrisy for rushing to fill it despite

prior assurances by several sen-

ior Republicans that they would

not do so if a vacancy opened in an

election year and despite Republi-

cans’ insistence in 2016 that vot-

ers be given a say in who fills the

seat.

Ms. Collins and Ms. Murkowski,

two moderates who have fre-

quently bucked their party, have

shared Democrats’ concerns,

warning that to fill the seat now

would erode the legitimacy of the

court and the Senate. Republican

leaders argue that they are justi-

fied in proceeding because now,

unlike then, the same party con-

trols the White House and the Sen-

ate.

But inside the chamber, the out-

come has never really been in

doubt. Party leaders, compelled

by the chance to install a third

Trump-nominated justice, had al-

ready lined up 51 of their members

in support of confirmation, includ-

ing every one of their members

facing tight re-election fights ex-

cept Ms. Collins.

Then on Saturday, Ms.

Murkowski said she would be a

52nd. Despite her opposition to

moving forward, Ms. Murkowski

conceded that she had lost the

procedural argument and said she

would vote on Monday to elevate

Judge Barrett.

Few remaining votes were un-

accounted for when the Senate

gaveled in for a rare Sunday ses-

sion at noon. Democrats, who

have been disrupting the usual

flow of business in protest, de-

manded that Republicans physi-

cally form a quorum to proceed.

Reflecting the significance of

the occasion, Republicans re-

mained at their desks after a quo-

rum had been established and

stood one by one to cast their

votes to curtail debate — the next-

to-last step in the confirmation

process.

Democrats did not. Citing re-

ports that several Senate staff

members had tested positive for

coronavirus, Mr. Schumer ad-

vised Democrats not to linger on

the floor. They are likely to follow

the same protocol on Monday, es-

pecially given the possibility that

Vice President Mike Pence might

preside over the vote despite sev-

eral of his closes aides testing pos-

itive in recent days.

Democrats were relieved when

Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Ari-

zona freshman Democrat with an

independent streak, confirmed

that she would vote against Judge

Barrett.

“After watching the Senate Ju-

diciary Committee confirmation

hearings, reading Judge Barrett’s

legal opinions and scholarly writ-

ings, and speaking with her di-

rectly, I am concerned about

Judge Barrett’s inconsistent

views on legal precedent, and how

those inconsistencies impact her

obligation to interpret and uphold

the rule of law,” Ms. Sinema said in

a statement.

In her own statement, Ms.

Collins said she had reached no

conclusions about Judge Barrett’s

qualifications because she was

categorically opposed to holding a

vote before Election Day.

“What I have concentrated on is

being fair and consistent,” she

said. “I do not think it is fair nor

consistent to have a Senate confir-

mation vote prior to the election.”

At 48, Judge Barrett would be

the youngest justice on the bench,

poised to put an imprint on the law

for decades to come. An appeals

court judge in Chicago and a Notre

Dame law professor, she has been

presented as an heir to former

Justice Antonin Scalia, a towering

figure of the court’s conservative

wing for decades. Judge Barrett

clerked for Justice Scalia and

shares his strict judicial philoso-

phy.

Mr. McConnell, the architect of

Republicans’ blockade of Mr. Oba-

ma’s 2016 nominee, Merrick B.

Garland, and the subsequent con-

servative stacking of the courts,

called Judge Barrett the “perfect

nominee to the Supreme Court.”

In her confirmation hearings

this month, Judge Barrett repeat-

edly described herself as a true in-

dependent with “no agenda.” Nei-

ther party in the Senate, though,

appears to believe she will be any-

thing but a reliably conservative

vote based on her academic writ-

ing and appeals court rulings.

Mr. Trump has promised to ap-

point justices who would chip

away at or overturn abortion

rights enshrined by the court in

Roe v. Wade, and Democrats have

spent weeks warning that Judge

Barrett would do just that. They

also say she would rule against

the Affordable Care Act when the

court hears a challenge to Demo-

crats’ signature health care law

just a week after the election.

“If qualifications are the only

thing that matters, why did Presi-

dent Trump vow to pick only jus-

tices who would terminate our

health care law?” asked Mr. Schu-

mer, prodding Republicans who

have tried to downplay the impli-

cations of Judge Barrett’s confir-

mation for policy by focusing al-

most solely on her pedigree.

Republicans Push Barrett

To Brink of Confirmation

By NICHOLAS FANDOS

The elevation of Amy Coney

Barrett would give the court a
6-to-3 conservative majority.

POOL PHOTO BY LEIGH VOGEL

civil unions, staking out new

ground for the church’s recogni-

tion of gay people.

In recent months, Archbishop

Gregory has urged the church’s

leaders to improve race relations,

recalling his time as an auxiliary

bishop in the Archdiocese of Chi-

cago, and how important it was for

young Black Catholics to see a

bishop who looked like them.

In August, during a Mass com-

memorating the 57th anniversary

of the March on Washington,

Archbishop Gregory said, “Ours is

the task and the privilege of ad-

vancing the goals that were so elo-

quently expressed 57 years ago by

such distinguished voices on that

day.” He added that “men and

women, young and old, people of

every racial and ethnic back-

ground are needed in this effort.”

“We are at a pivotal juncture in

our country’s struggle for racial

justice and national harmony,” he

said.

Archbishop Gregory, 72, was

one of 13 new cardinal appoint-

ments around the world that Pope

Francis announced on Sunday. A

Chicago native, he served for

years as the archbishop of Atlanta

until last year, when the pontiff

made him the first African-Ameri-

can archbishop of Washington. He

is also a former president of the

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bish-

ops, whose vision is considered in

line with Francis’ pastoral and

welcoming approach.

Archbishop Gregory, who did

not come from a Catholic back-

ground, converted as a child after

he began attending a Catholic

grammar school in Chicago. It

was 1958, and the school had de-

cided to accept African-American

students as white families were

leaving, and within six weeks of

joining the school, Archbishop

Gregory reflected later, he de-

cided to become a priest.

On Sunday, Archbishop Greg-

ory said in a statement, “With a

very grateful and humble heart, I

thank Pope Francis for this ap-

pointment which will allow me to

work more closely with him in car-

ing for Christ’s Church.” He did

not respond to a request for an in-

terview.

Like many institutions in other

spheres, the Catholic Church in

the United States has long min-

imized the experience and value

of African-Americans, said

Reynold Verret, president of Xa-

vier University of Louisiana, the

country’s only historically Black

and Catholic university. “It is our

great sin,” he said. “The Vatican is

leading us in a new direction, and I

think Pope Francis is showing a

new opening for us as a church,

that we are one church.”

Only about 250 of the estimated

37,000 Catholic priests in the

United States are African-Ameri-

can, according to the U.S. Confer-

ence of Catholic Bishops. Only one

other diocese beyond the Archdio-

cese of Washington is currently

led by an African-American:

Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-

Thibodaux in Louisiana.

The majority of Black American

adults are Protestant, but about 5

percent are Catholic, according to

the Pew Research Center. The

Catholic Church historically had a

smaller presence in the Deep

South, which has long been signif-

icantly Baptist, but the Black

Catholic community grew in

places where the church had a

stronger presence, like Texas and

Louisiana, as well as in the North-

east, as immigrants met and mar-

ried Black people who had moved

there during the Great Migration,

Dr. Verret said.

For centuries, Black Catholics

were excluded from seminaries

and religious orders, and when

they were included, they were of-

ten given positions with little

power and were not allowed to

lead African-American parishes,

said Shannen Dee Williams, as-

sistant professor of history at Vil-

lanova University.

Archbishop Gregory’s appoint-

ment is the “culmination of a long-

standing Black Catholic freedom

struggle against racism, slavery,

segregation and exclusion within

the U.S. church,” she said.

“The significance of his role as

the first Black archbishop, now

cardinal, of Washington, D.C.,

which was the center of power of

the U.S. church’s slaveholding

elite, also cannot be overstated,”

Dr. Williams said. “His presence,

voice and advocacy against rac-

ism as a ‘pro-life’ issue in the

Church is needed now more than

ever.”

Archbishop Gregory’s leader-

ship in Washington was a turning

point for a pivotal diocese previ-

ously led by Theodore McCarrick

and Donald Wuerl, two prelates

tarnished by the church sexual

abuse crisis.

Pope Francis stripped Mr. Mc-

Carrick of his title as cardinal and

then of his status as priest after

accusations of sexual abuse

against him that the church

deemed credible. Cardinal Wuerl

left the position amid accusations

that he had failed to prevent abuse

decades earlier in his diocese in

Pittsburgh.

This summer, as protests

spread against the police killing of

George Floyd, Archbishop Greg-

ory publicly clashed with Presi-

dent Trump, who visited the Saint

John Paul II National Shrine the

day after armed officers un-

leashed tear gas and rubber pel-

lets on peaceful protesters near

the White House.

“I find it baffling and reprehen-

sible that any Catholic facility

would allow itself to be so egre-

giously misused and manipulated

in a fashion that violates our reli-

gious principles, which call us to

defend the rights of all people,

even those with whom we might

disagree,” Archbishop Gregory

wrote.

Pope John Paul II, he said, “cer-

tainly would not condone the use

of tear gas and other deterrents to

silence, scatter or intimidate them

for a photo opportunity in front of

a place of worship and peace.”

Archbishop Gregory has urged

Congress to reform the nation’s

immigration system and create a

pathway to citizenship for undoc-

umented immigrants. He commis-

sioned a climate action plan for

Catholics at home and at church to

protect the environment, after

Pope Francis’ encyclical on the en-

vironment in 2015.

He has also been a relatively

strong supporter of L.G.B.T.Q.

people in the church, and last

summer told a transgender Cath-

olic that they “belong to the heart

of this church” and that “there is a

lot that has been said to you, about

you, behind your back that is

painful and is sinful.”

The ceremony to install the new

cardinals is set for Nov. 28 in

Rome.

Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, last year. He is also the first American named to the College of Cardinals since 2016.

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pope Names First African-American Cardinal

Archbishop Gregory, 72, was one of 13 new cardinal appoint-

ments around the world that Pope Francis announced Sunday.

JOSE LUIS MAGANA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Archbishop Gregory meeting worshipers at St. Augustine Church

in Washington in 2019. He has clashed with President Trump.

ANDREW HARNIK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

From Page A

Elizabeth Dias reported from

Washington, and Jason Horowitz

from Rome. Gaia Pianigiani con-

tributed reporting.

.