A coronavirus outbreak that infected President Donald Trump and spread to the Senate threw a fresh element of uncertainty Friday into the politically fraught fight over installing Judge Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court before Election Day, as Republicans vowed to press ahead and Democrats insisted on a pause.
Pulling off a complex confirmation that touches all three branches of government in the four weeks remaining before the election always promised to be a daunting task for Republicans in the middle of a pandemic. But by Friday, with the White House and Congress in turmoil and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, among those announcing they had tested positive for the virus, it was clear that the challenge had grown steeper.
Top Republicans insisted they would move ahead at an uncommonly swift pace to hold hearings on Barrett’s nomination by October 12, send her nomination to the full Senate by October 22 and confirm her as soon as October 26, eight days before Election Day — even if it meant breaking Senate norms and considering a lifetime judicial nomination by videoconference. But the latest outbreak raised the possibility that Republicans could lose their slim majority in the Judiciary Committee or on the Senate floor.
And it gave Democrats, who were already objecting to Trump’s push to install a new Supreme Court justice so close to the election, a new reason to call for a delay. Seeing a potential opening, top Democrats called for the Senate to pause and assess the scope of the outbreak. They declared that a fully virtual hearing for a candidate for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court would be unacceptable.
“It’s critical that Chairman Graham put the health of senators, the nominee and staff first — and ensure a full and fair hearing that is not rushed, not truncated and not virtual,” Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a joint statement. “Otherwise, this already illegitimate process will become a dangerous one.”
But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chair of the panel, vowed he would stick to his schedule, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, said he intended to move the nomination as soon as the committee approved it.
“Just finished a great phone call with @POTUS,” McConnell wrote on Twitter on Friday. “He’s in good spirits and we talked business — especially how impressed Senators are with the qualifications of Judge Barrett. Full steam ahead with the fair, thorough, timely process that the nominee, the Court, & the country deserve.”
Republican officials said they had no doubt that senators would find a way to muscle through the nomination over Democrats’ protests. But Republicans cannot afford to have many members sidelined by illness, which could provide Democrats an opportunity to stall the proceedings. Two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have already raised objections to moving ahead before the election, reducing the wiggle room in the 53-47 Republican majority.
McConnell has insisted throughout the pandemic that the Senate continue to meet in person, but he conceded Friday that keeping Republican senators healthy was crucial to the fate of the nomination.
“I think every precaution needs to be taken because we don’t anticipate any Democratic support at all, either in committee or the full Senate, and therefore everybody needs to be in an all-hands-on-deck mindset,” he said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
The posturing around the court fight played out as government officials at the White House and on Capitol Hill spent Friday racing to trace those who had come in contact with known carriers of the virus to determine how far it had spread.
Trump was in proximity to Barrett when he announced her nomination in the Rose Garden a week ago at a well-attended celebration where few masks or other precautions were evident. Another high-profile attendee, the Rev. John Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, announced Friday that he had also tested positive.
Lee was one of at least eight Republican senators present at the White House event, where video captured him hugging other attendees without a mask.
Barrett also met on Capitol Hill with Lee, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and more than a dozen other Republicans. The Utah Republican said he would isolate for 10 days following his diagnosis, placing him on track to reemerge on the day Graham intends to begin Barrett’s hearing.
Other lawmakers who had been in proximity to Trump or his aides said they were getting tested. Among them were Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.; and Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who all announced they had tested negative.
Fresh fears about the spread of the virus only stiffened resistance to Barrett’s nomination among Democrats, who were already outraged that Republicans were racing to confirm a Supreme Court justice so close to the election after having blocked President Barack Obama from filling a vacancy nine months before Election Day in 2016.
But with Trump’s reelection in doubt and their party in danger of losing its Senate majority, Republicans are even more eager to confirm the nominee quickly. They have insisted they are justified in moving ahead with the nomination because Trump was elected in 2016 and Republicans gained seats in the Senate in 2018, an argument that would be undercut by losses in November.
Some Republican advisers were pushing to scrap plans to keep the Senate in session next week, hoping to reduce the risk of more Republican senators becoming infected. But adjourning may not be in McConnell’s control. He had been in favor of allowing senators to go home, but Democrats trying to inflict pain on Republicans for their rush to fill the Supreme Court seat refused to go along, using parliamentary tactics to prevent it.
As for Barrett, two officials with knowledge of her medical history said that she had already had the coronavirus and recovered this year, potentially providing some immunity for her. But it was not yet clear whether she would continue her courtesy meetings with senators in person next week.
She tested negative for the virus Friday, officials said.
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