Republicans vote to send Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation to Senate amid Democrats' boycott

GOP-controlled body set to confirm Donald Trump’s latest justice to the high court a week before Election Day

Republican Senators swiftly sent the nomination of Donald Trump's third pick to the US Supreme Court to the full Senate, where the GOP-controlled body is expected to officially name Amy Coney Barrett the latest justice on the nation's high court as soon as Monday, a week from Election Day.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee did not attend the meeting on Thursday, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the hearings and confirmation a “sham process” that undermines the legitimacy of the court.

"Fearing a loss at the ballot box, Republicans are showing that they do not care about the rules or what the American people want, but are concerned only with raw political power," Senator Schumer and Democrats said in a statement.

In their place, Democrats on the committee placed placards of people who have benefitted from the Affordable Care Act, which the Trump administration has sought to dismantle pending a favourable Supreme Court decision. Judge Barrett’s addition to the bench will ensure a conservative majority that Democrats fear will jeopardise several critical precedents.

She will be the sixth Republican-appointed justice on the nine-judge court. 

"We will not grant this process any further legitimacy by participating in a committee markup of this nomination just [12] days before the culmination of an election that is already underway," they added.

At Thursday’s meeting, Republican Senator and committee chair Lindsey Graham said its members "are not going to allow them to take over the committee.”

“They made a choice not to participate,” he said.

The quick motion followed contentious hearings in the wake of the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose dying wish sought to delay her replacement until after the results of the presidential election on 3 November.

Images of people who’ve been helped by the Affordable Care Act occupy the seats of Democratic senators boycotting a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be an associate justice of the US Supreme Court on 22 October. (EPA)

Democrats challenged Judge Barrett on her views on abortion rights, the transfer of presidential power, voting rights and a number of constitutional protections Republicans have sought to strip and that Democrats fear could be imperiled by her appointment.

President Trump, eager to seat a justice ahead of the election to resolve vote-related litigation, presented his nominee a week after her death.

Judge Barrett considers herself an “originalist” interpreter of the US Constitution, ostensibly believing that the statements expressed in the founding document must be interpreted by their understanding at the time of their adoption.

She has also compared her judicial philosophy to that of late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, under whom she clerked.