Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell didn’t plan to let President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis stop him from confirming a Supreme Court justice.
But now that a handful of Republican senators—including two on the critical Senate Judiciary Committee, tasked with approving Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination—have tested positive for the coronavirus, that ambitious scheme may be upended.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis also announced late Friday that he tested positive and planned to isolate for 10 days.
(Barrett, who currently serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, has tested negative for the coronavirus.).
Still, on Saturday, McConnell doubled down on his promise to confirm Barrett, even though Trump had been transferred to the hospital the day before.
Although Senate floor activity will be rescheduled until October 19, he said, the Senate Judiciary Committee is still set to start hearings about Barrett on October 12.
McConnell had hoped to vote on Barrett ahead of the election on November 3. »