Amy Coney Barrett officially confirmed as Supreme Court Justice
The US Senate has confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in a victory for President Donald Trump a week before the general election.
Her appointment to the seat once filled by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg came over vocal complaints and lengthy speeches from Democrats. The deeply divided chamber voted 52 to 48, largely along party lines, with only one Republican senator, Susan Collins, who faces a tough re-election battle in Maine, voted against the president’s nominee on Monday evening’s vote.
Republican lawmakers broke into applause as the tally was read aloud.
The 48-year-old took the oath of office at the White House alongside President Trump.
Trump hailed Barrett’s confirmation as “a momentous day for America.”
Mr. Trump said: “This is a momentous day for America, for the United States constitution and for the fair and impartial rule of law.”
He added: “She is one of our nation’s most brilliant legal scholars and she will make an outstanding justice on the highest court in our land.”
Meanwhile, Barrett said shortly after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the constitutional oath “I stand here tonight, truly honored and humbled”
“A judge declares independence not only from the Congress and the president but also from the private beliefs that might otherwise move her.”
“The judicial oath captures the essence of judicial duty: the rule of law must always control,” Justice Barrett added.
The ceremony took place on the south lawn of the executive mansion, a month after a similar event to unveil Justice Barrett as the president’s nominee was linked to a Covid-19 outbreak that was followed by the president himself testing positive for the disease.
No Supreme Court vacancy had ever been filled this close to a presidential election and Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative Catholic, could cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench for years or even decades.
