The Democrats have been fiercely opposed to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to move forward with Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process. And now, they have found their trump card. As the President of the United States tested positive for the coronavirus, two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have also tested positive. With the new events, Democrats are calling for the delay of the confirmation process, given the importance of the nomination and the unprecedented recent events. 

Senator Schumer has called for the delay of the confirmation process. He said, “The GOP must halt this increasingly reckless Supreme Court process, and the Senate needs thorough COVID testing now. Americans see the similarity between GOP willingness to put Senators and staff at risk in pursuit of power and their willingness to strip health care from millions.”

Schumer continued, "The idea of having virtual hearings where no one is with the witness for the highest court in the land for a life appointment that would have such effect on peoples' lives makes no sense. A virtual hearing is virtually no hearing at all."

Former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar has also called for a delay in the confirmation process. In an interview with MSNBC, she said it is not a tactic, but a reality. She said, "We don't know how many other Republican senators have it, they have a lunch together where they don't have masks. It's very possible we're going to have more senators, more staff. So I don't know why you would ram through this Supreme Court hearing, put people in danger because it would be within that two-week period, while you have shut down the whole Senate."

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, has said the confirmation process will not be stalled despite members of the committee testing positive. McConnell said, "The Senate Judiciary Committee will convene on October 12 as Chairman Graham has scheduled to begin confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court."

McConnell said there is nothing wrong with having the confirmation process in a virtual setting, and there is no reason to delay such an important vote for the next Supreme Court Justice. 

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