Senate Democrats opened day three of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation with new questions about how she would rule on healthcare-related cases, and a top Republican asked whether she would support cameras in the courtroom.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, questioned Barrett about her views on the legality of Medicare and Social Security, and whether she agreed with the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s view on whether Obamacare could survive without the individual mandate.
Scalia dissented with fellow Justices in 2012 when they decided Obamacare could survive even if severed from a mandated Medicaid expansion, which they struck down. The Supreme Court on Nov. 10 will hear a case that will test whether the law should survive now that the individual mandate has been eliminated from Obamacare.
Back in 2012, Scalia said the law should not survive when Medicaid expansion was ruled illegal.
“From the portion they struck down, Justice Scalia dissented from this conclusion,” Feinstein told Barrett after reminding the 48-year-old Federal Court of Appeals judge that she aligns herself with Scalia’s judicial philosophy.
Barrett told Feinstein the issue of severability “serves a valuable function of trying not to undo your work when you wouldn’t want a court to undo your work.”
Barrett added, “It’s designed to effectuate your intent … to say, ‘Well, would Congress still want the statute to stand even with this provision gone? Would Congress still pass the same statute without it?’ So I think insofar as it tries to effectuate what Congress would have wanted, it’s the court and Congress working hand in hand.”
Feinstein appeared satisfied, telling Barrett, “That’s quite a definition. I’m really impressed.”
Barrett again appeared with her family before the Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to complete its questioning by the end of the day.
The panel will hear from outside witnesses, and on Thursday will begin the process of voting to advance her nomination to the floor. An Oct. 22 committee vote is scheduled for her nomination, and the GOP majority is expected to provide unanimous approval. Democrats are all but guaranteed to oppose her.
Like nearly every recent high court nominee before her, Barrett was asked whether she would support placing cameras in the Supreme Court, which currently prohibits all outside electronic devices and has been providing delayed releases of audio recordings.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, asked Barrett her views, after telling her, “Many of us believe that allowing cameras in the courtroom would open the courts to the public and bring about a better understanding of the judiciary.”
Barrett, like past nominees, didn’t indicate whether or not she would support the change. This year, the high court, for the first time in history, began providing a live audio feed of oral arguments in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But no cameras.
“I would certainly keep an open mind about allowing cameras in the Supreme Court,” Barrett said.
