It's official: Amy Coney Barrett joins the Supreme Court and faces immediate baptism of fire - including voting rights, Obamacare, Catholic bans on gay couples adopting and possibly the election result itself
- Amy Coney Barrett takes her seat on the Supreme Court Tuesday and already faces a monumental series of decisions
- Lawsuits over voting are piling up and late Monday night the court voted 5-3 to restrict counting of late-arriving ballots in Wisconsin
- Next week she court will hear a case on whether Philadelphia can ban a Catholic group which bans gay adoption from being part of its foster-care program
- Then the court hears a case which could strike down the Affordable Care Act in in its entirety
- And the election result itself may be on the court docket in weeks to come
- Trump celebrated her 52-48 confirmation vote in the Senate with a White House ceremonial swearing-in conducted by Clarence Thomas
Amy Coney Barrett was officially sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts Tuesday - returning the court to nine members but with conservative 6-3 majority.
The 48-year-old took her oath in front of a fireplace with her husband Jesse holding the Bible as Roberts administered the pledge, just after 10am.
Her arrival on the bench ends a tumultuous month since the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and sees her face a barrage of politically fraught cases in her first days on the job, as the court weighs election disputes and prepares to hear a challenge to the Obamacare health law.
The Republican-controlled Senate on Monday pushed through the confirmation 52-48, over Democrats' objections to an appointment so close to the November 3 presidential election.
President Donald Trump, who nominated Barrett, has said he expects the court to ultimately decide the result of the election between him and Democrat Joe Biden.
Barrett joins the court with two election issues already awaiting her from key battleground states North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The court would be expected to act on both before Election Day, with Barrett, previously an appeals court judge and legal scholar as part of the court's new 6-3 conservative majority.
No Supreme Court justice had ever been confirmed so close to a presidential election.
On the bench for life: Amy Coney Barrett officially became Justice Coney Barrett just after 10am Tuesday as Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office, with Jesse Barrett, her husband, holding the Bible on which she swore to uphold the Constiution
Justice Coney Barrett: Donald Trump celebrated his third appointment to the Supreme Court at the White House Monday; she faces a 'baptism of fire'
Moment of history: Amy Coney Barrett, her hand on a Bible held by her husband Jesse, is sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by Clarence Thomas, its longest-serving justice
Lit up in celebration: The White House was draped in giant flags for the swearing-in of Amy Coney Barrett (left) by Clarence Thomas (right)
First words as a Justice: Amy Coney Barrett takes the oath of office as Donald Trump savors the confirmation of the third justice of his presidency
Families together - and unmasked: Donald and Melania Trump posed with Amy Coney Barrett and Jesse Barrett on the Blue Room balcony of the White House after she was sworn in as the ninth Supreme Court justice
'I cannot think of any other situation like this,' said Rick Hasen, an expert on election law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. 'It really is a potential baptism by fire.'
One week after the election, the court on Nov. 10 hears a case in which Republicans including Trump are asking the court to strike down the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
During Barrett's Senate confirmation hearing two weeks ago, Democrats focused on both Obamacare and election cases in voicing opposition to her confirmation and urged her to step aside from both. Barrett refused to make such a commitment. Justices have the final say on whether they step aside in a case.
At a White House ceremony on Monday night where conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered to her one of the two oaths of office that justices must take, Barrett pledged her independence from politics.
'This separation of duty from political preference is what makes the judiciary distinct,' she said.
The political pressures put Barrett in a difficult position and she may tread carefully, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
'She could be on the court for four decades. I don´t think she wants her first big ruling to be raising a question about her independence,' Levinson added.
Trump has said he wanted Barrett to be confirmed before Election Day so she could cast a decisive vote in any election-related dispute, potentially in his favor.
The Supreme Court has only once decided the outcome of a U.S. presidential election - the disputed 2000 contest ultimately awarded to Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore.
The justices already have tackled multiple election-related emergency requests this year, some related to rules changes prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Election may be on the ballot: Two cases on mail-in ballot counting are due to be considered this week - and Donald Trump says the high court might decide who gets to occupy the White House on January 20
Campaign point: The Affordable Care Act could be struck down in its entirety after a hearing the week after the election - with Barack Obama forcefully reminding voters of the issue on the trail for Joe Biden
On Monday night, the conservative justices were in the majority as the court on a 5-3 vote declined to extend mail-in voting deadlines sought by Democrats in Wisconsin.
Last week, in a stark sign of how Barrett's appointment could affect such cases, the court split 4-4 in a case from Pennsylvania, handing a loss to Republicans hoping to curb the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
Republicans on Friday asked the court to block the mail-in ballot counting in Pennsylvania, knowing that Barrett was about to be confirmed.
The conservative majority even before Barrett's appointment has generally sided with state officials who oppose court-imposed changes to election procedures to make it easier to vote during the pandemic.
The Obamacare case is the third major Republican-backed challenge to the law, which has helped roughly 20 million Americans obtain medical insurance. It also bars insurers from refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Republican opponents have called the law an unwarranted intervention by government in health insurance markets.
The Supreme Court previously upheld Obamacare 5-4 in a 2012 ruling. It rejected another challenge by 6-3 in 2015.
Barrett in the past criticized those two rulings. Democrats opposing her nomination emphasized that she might vote to strike down Obamacare, although legal experts think the court is unlikely to do so.
The court hears another major case on Nov. 4 concerning the scope of religious-rights exemptions to certain federal laws.
The dispute arose from Philadelphia's decision to bar a local Roman Catholic entity from participating in the city's foster-care program because the organization prohibits same-sex couples from serving as foster parents.
The court began its current term on Oct. 5 shorthanded following the death of Barrett's predecessor, liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
If the court is divided 4-4 in any of the cases argued before Barrett was appointed, it could hold a second round of oral arguments so Barrett can participate.
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