Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Tuesday that he will not be meeting with Judge Amy Coney Barrett ahead of her upcoming confirmation hearings. Judge Barrett arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to begin meeting with Republican Senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
“I am not going to meet with Judge Barrett,” Sen. Schumer wrote on Twitter. “Why would I meet with a nominee of such an illegitimate process and one who is determined to get rid of the Affordable Care Act?”
Ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s evaluation of Judge Barrett, two Democrat members of the committee indicated that they will not meet with her.
“I will oppose the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as I would any nominee proposed as part of this illegitimate sham process, barely one month before an election as Americans are already casting their votes. The American people deserve a voice in this hugely consequential decision," Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said over the weekend. “I refuse to treat this process as legitimate and will not meet with Judge Barrett.”
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) also will not be meeting with Judge Barrett, after refusing to meet with then-Judge Kavanaugh during his confirmation process in 2018.
No Democrats on the committee are expected to vote in favor of Judge Barrett's confirmation. Meetings with nominees are in no way mandatory, but Democrats are clearly engaging in partisan grandstanding; by refusing to meet with Judge Barrett, Democrats are only speeding up her confirmation process, as Leader McConnell has the votes to move forward.
