In their desperate search for an excuse to delay Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court and push the vacancy past the election, Democrats have said that the Supreme Court is too important to hold virtual hearings for. But it appears the Supreme Court itself disagrees.
The Supreme Court has said that all oral arguments slated for November and December will be conducted via telephone conference, just as the court did for October. The Supreme Court released a statement saying that “in keeping with public health guidance in response to COVID-19, the Justices and counsel will all participate remotely.”
So, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s contention that “remote hearings for lifetime appointments to higher federal courts is absolutely insufficient” for reviewing a Supreme Court nominee is apparently not a feeling shared by the Supreme Court for actual arguments before the court. For Democrats, virtual hearings were just fine for Anthony Fauci on the coronavirus and for James Comey on the Russia investigation.
Of course, Schumer’s statement contradicts the position that several Senate Democrats have already taken. As the second-most important court in the country, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit certainly qualifies as a “higher federal court.” Several Democrats participated in the hearing of nominee Justin Walker virtually, along with other court nominees.
The sanctity of in-person hearings is another in the long list of failed Democratic excuses to push the vacant Supreme Court seat past the presidential and Senate elections that they think they will win. Democrats have failed to come up with a strategy since falling into the Senate minority, and they only have their repeated escalations to blame.
Virtual hearings will also blunt the outbursts of righteous indignation from Senate Democrats and the activists they bring in to cause a scene. The rehearsed theatrics of Sens. Kamala Harris or Mazie Hirono simply don’t have the same effect over Skype — yet another setback for Democrats who have no power to stop the confirmation process.
Senate Democrats know they are in a helpless position. Their only solution has been to find a way to sway public opinion, but it’s not working: Polls of registered voters break down along partisan lines. Like every other excuse, the opposition to virtual hearings will not move the needle nor should it.
