As GOP Hails Barrett, Democrats Convene A Parallel Hearing: About Health Care

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and other Democrats are making the Affordable Care Act the centerpiece of their opposition to Judge Amy Coney Barrett at Barrett’s confirmation hearing.

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Andrew Harnik/AP

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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., scolded Republicans for what he called the «screaming-tire 180» they’d pulled since 2016, when they declined to hear President Obama’s nominee for the court that year until after Election Day.

Now, Whitehouse observed, «We get this mad-dash rush. Why? Look at the Supreme Court calendar.»

A case scheduled for mid-November could grant an opportunity for a court with a new conservative majority to fire a «torpedo» into Obamacare, the Democrats charged — and Barrett herself embodies that weapon.

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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee display photos of Americans who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act during Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Monday.

Leah Millis/Pool/Getty Images

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Leah Millis/Pool/Getty Images

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee display photos of Americans who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act during Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Monday.

Leah Millis/Pool/Getty Images

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., argued that Republicans had failed to pull down or reform Obamacare via legislation, including when they had total control in Washington, and now they’re hoping to send Barrett to do so.

Democrats used their time to tell stories about constituents whom they said had been helped by the ACA, including an Illinoisan, in Durbin’s case, who might have had a child’s coverage cut off and a Rhode Islander, in Whitehouse’s case, who might not have been able to go ahead with a kidney transplant.

The Democrats showed Barrett huge photos of the constituents whose stories they told, including with big placards that staff members set up behind Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

With such stories «coming in from around the country, why would we rush forward?» Whitehouse asked.