Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee boycotted Thursday morning’s vote, held by Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), to advance Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the floor of the Senate.
GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), as a member of the committee, ripped her Democratic colleagues’ political stunt. As only one of two female Republican members on the committee, Sen. Blackburn deemed Judge Barrett a “sharp, qualified legal superstar,” who answered every question that she could while before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Blackburn said that Senate Democrats’ opposition to Judge Barrett can be attributed to bias against conservative women, and that they want “only certain women” to “have a seat at the table.”
“Throughout this process, Senate Democrats have proved my point several times over: the left believes that only certain women ought to have a seat of the table. They did it again today when they failed to show up to provide their advice and consent,” she said in a release. “It is discouraging to see the left advocate for diversity when at every opportunity they try to squash the voices of conservative women. This narrowmindedness needs to stop. All women deserve the opportunity to rise to the highest levels of their careers.”
A boycott of the committee’s vote was not sufficient to stop Judge Barrett’s nomination from being advanced to the floor of the Senate, and Republicans on the committee followed Senate rules and protocol to hold the markup on Thursday morning. Judge Barrett is expected to receive a full vote on Monday.