Senate Republicans pledged to plow ahead with the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court despite President Trump’s diagnosis of COVID-19 and the potential for an outbreak among their ranks.
Sen. Mike Lee , a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Friday that he had tested positive for the virus. He attended the announcement of Barrett’s nomination at the White House Rose Garden Saturday along with Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, the president of the University of Notre Dame, where Barrett used to teach, and White House aide Hope Hicks, all of whom have tested positive.
“We’re on track,” Sen. Lindsey Graham , the committee chairman, told reporters in South Carolina on Friday. “We’re in a good spot. She’s going to get confirmed.” A virtual hearing is “not an acceptable substitute,” they said in a statement, pointing to the fact that all circuit court nominees heave appeared in person for their confirmation hearings during the pandemic.