UPDATE (Oct. 27): Amy Coney Barrett has been formally sworn in as the Supreme Court’s ninth justice. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath Tuesday morning at the court. Barrett's first votes on the court could include two big topics affecting the man who appointed her. The court is weighing a plea from President Donald Trump to prevent the Manhattan district attorney from acquiring his tax returns as well as appeals from the Trump campaign and Republicans to shorten the deadline for receiving and counting absentee ballots in the battleground states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania. It’s not certain Barrett will take part in these issues.
(Oct. 26 at 9:30pm):
Amy Coney Barrett is pledging to carry out her duties as a Supreme Court justice “without any fear or favor” toward the other branches of government or her own beliefs.
Barrett spoke Monday after taking the first of two oaths that will allow her to officially join the high court.
Addressing an outdoor White House ceremony in her honor, Barrett says it’s the job of a judge to “resist her policy preferences,” claiming it would be a “dereliction of duty” to give in to them.
Barrett is pledging to do her job “independently of the political branches and of my own preferences.”
__
9:20 p.m.
The scene at an outdoor White House ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett looked very different from the previous White House event where President Donald Trump introduced her as his nominee.
Monday’s event was held on the South Lawn instead of the smaller Rose Garden.
Scores of guests were spaced out as opposed to being seated close together, as they were in the garden at the event on Sept. 26.
Most guests wore masks on Monday as opposed to the September event, where few people wore face coverings to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
Several people who attended the Sept. 26 event later contracted the virus, including Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
__
9:17 p.m.
Amy Coney Barrett has taken the first of two oaths she needs to officially join the Supreme Court.
The Senate confirmed Barrett’s nomination on a largely party line 52-48 vote shortly before Justice Clarence Thomas administered the Constitutional Oath to Barrett at an outdoor White House ceremony.
Barrett is the first Supreme Court justice to be confirmed so close to a presidential election.
A conservative, Barrett fills the vacancy created by the September death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who led the court’s liberal voting bloc.
Chief Justice John Roberts is set to administer a second oath -- known as the judicial oath -- to the former federal appeals court judge at a private ceremony at the court on Tuesday.
The 48-year-old Louisiana native will then be able to take part in the high court’s work. Her addition likely will solidify a 6-3 conservative shift on the nation’s highest court.
PREVIOUS POST:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amy Coney Barrett is headed to the Supreme Court. The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee, with Republicans overpowering Democratic opposition a week before Election Day. Barrett will be the third Supreme Court justice nominated by Trump. At 48, she is likely secure a conservative court majority for years to come. With no real power to stop the vote, Democrats still argued the winner of the Nov. 3 election should choose the nominee. Barrett will fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the liberal icon who died last month.
Moments after the confirmation, the following statement was posted from the President of the University of Notre Dame. Barrett is a graduate of the ND Law School and a former professor there:
On behalf of the University of Notre Dame, I congratulate Amy Coney Barrett on her confirmation today by the United States Senate as a justice of the United States Supreme Court. Recognized by experts from across the spectrum of judicial philosophies as a superb legal scholar and judge, she is an esteemed colleague and a teacher revered by her students. Justice Barrett becomes the first alumna of Notre Dame Law School and the first Notre Dame faculty member to be so honored. We join her family and friends in celebrating this momentous achievement, and we assure Justice Barrett and all her colleagues on the nation’s highest court of our continued prayers in their work of administering justice and upholding the Constitution.