Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “it’s not safe” for the Senate Judiciary Committee to move forward with hearings for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee amid a coronavirus outbreak that’s infected three Republican senators.
“If it’s not safe for the Senate to meet in session, it’s not safe for the hearings to go forward,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a Sunday press conference.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Saturday said the Senate would not meet as planned this week after Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.
Tillis and Lee, who have said they will self-isolate for 10 days, are both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Their COVID-19 diagnosis came shortly after Trump announced early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus.
But despite the increase in confirmed coronavirus cases on Capitol Hill – where lawmakers and their staffers are not required to be routinely tested – Republican leaders signaled they would move forward with their efforts to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett before the Nov. 3 presidential election.
“The Senate’s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair and historically supported confirmation process previously laid out,” McConnell said in a statement. – READ MORE
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