Senate Republicans say security concerns for their members are at a heightened level since President Trump, along with the GOP majority, agreed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat should be filled before the election.
During Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing two years ago, GOP senators and their families faced threats, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who dealt with a letter in the mail purporting to contain ricin, rape threats to young staffers in her Washington, D.C., office, and late-night stalkers.
There is no longer as much pressure on Collins from either side of the aisle to vote for or against Trump’s nominee, federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has enough votes to be confirmed. But security is still a concern.
“I think there’s certainly a heightened concern about safety and security. I don’t really want to discuss in detail the precautions being taken, but it’s not lost on anyone that we are saying. Violence in the streets. We’re seeing riots and assaults and during the Kavanaugh confirmation,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz told the Washington Examiner. “There was a great deal of anger and vitriol, and I hope we don’t reprise what happened during the Kavanaugh confirmation.”
Following the announcement of Ginsburg’s death and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s declaration that her seat would be filled before the election, protests erupted outside of McConnell’s residence in Washington and the D.C. home of Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. Critics say Senate Republicans are hypocritical for moving forward with the Barrett nomination weeks before Election Day after refusing to consider President Barack Obama’s final Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland, four years ago.
“Some of our members, including the leader, have had demonstrating. I think there’s more of an awareness because of the high stakes of this debate that there could be protesters, and hopefully, there will be protesters who are following the rules and within the guidelines and doing it in a peaceful way,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told the Washington Examiner. “But I think the Rules Committee here is prepared for whatever is necessary to make sure that we keep people safe throughout the process.”
During the Kavanaugh confirmation, protesters made their way into the Capitol complex and sometimes cornered members in the Senate elevators. Other demonstrators would stand at the entrance of the tunnels at the little rotunda that connects the Russell Senate Office Building to the Capitol.
From there, they would attempt to run up to easily identifiable Republican lawmakers with their cellphone video cameras and pepper them with questions about their support for Kavanaugh.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic could change the protest environment this time. Visitors are currently not allowed into the Capitol building, as well as the surrounding House and Senate office buildings, due to current COVID-19 regulations recommended by the Capitol physician months ago.
“It’s going be a little different, because they won’t be inside. I assume they’ll be outside the building or in our front yards,” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn told the Washington Examiner.
He added, however, “Passions are high. And unfortunately, some unstable people, you know, may get caught up in it, and I think there’s some risk, so I think everybody needs to be extra careful.”
