Senate panel sets date to vote on Trump's SC nominee

Washington, Oct 16 The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled an October 22 vote on whether to approve US President Donald Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Barrett is widely expected to be confirmed by the committee by a party line vote, with all 12 Republicans in her favour and 10 Democrats against the nomination, reports Xinhua news agency.

As the four-day hearing entered the last day on Thursday on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the Senate Republicans had enough votes to confirm Barrett to the highest court.

McConnell said he expects to bring Barrett's nomination to the Senate floor on October 23, according to a Bloomberg News report.

The schedule is expected to allow her to be seated ahead of the November 3 Election Day.

During the hearing, Democrats made procedural objections and said the rush to confirm the nominee ahead of a presidential election was unprecedented.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat fromConnecticut, said the process was a "rush" and a "sham" and motioned to adjourn the hearing, prompting a round of speeches by members of the committee but failed by a party line vote afterwards.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the 100-member Senate and so far only two party Senators have expressed their objection for a rush vote before the election.

Trump nominated Barrett, a 48-year-old conservative federal appellate judge last month to replace late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a leading liberal voice on the Supreme Court.

Trump successfully appointed two conservatives on the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, tilting the institution to the right with a 5-4 majority.

Barrett, if confirmed by the Senate, would give the conservative wing a solid 6-3 advantage at the Supreme Court.

At age 48, she would also be the youngest member of the nine-justice bench and likely serve for the decades to come.

( With inputs from IANS )