The Republican-controlled Senate late Monday rejected a motion by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to adjourn the Senate until Nov. 9, which falls 6 days after Election Day.
The move would have put a hold on the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Schumer wanted to adjourn the Senate with the exception of returning to vote on a COVID-19 stimulus package should a deal be reached by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The Senate voted 48-43 on party lines to shoot down Schumer’s motion. The Senate is expected to reconvene midday Tuesday.
“I’m glad we just voted down the motion by the Democratic leader to adjourn because we have work to do here, including the COVID-19 legislation which we need to be here to be working on. I’m glad that adjournment motion was unsuccessful,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said on the Senate floor after the vote. “Yes, we have to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called Schumer’s move “yet another temper tantrum.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on Oct. 22 for Barrett’s nomination. A final vote is expected around Oct. 26, about a week before Election Day.
Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, are believed to have enough votes to put Barrett on the court. Three Republicans can vote against Barrett or abstain and her confirmation will still go through.
Trump announced Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Sept. 26, to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18 from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
If confirmed, Barrett will join Trump’s two other appointments, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to form a 6-3 majority of Supreme Court justices who were appointed by Republican presidents.
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