Rep. Madeleine Dean Condemns Amy Coney Barrett's Confirmation

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA -- Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the newest Supreme Court Justice of the United States on Monday, to the chagrin of Democratic leaders around the nation and in Montgomery County.

Local U.S. Congressswoman Madeleine Dean said that the confirmation of Barrett in the midst of the election, four years after Republicans refused to hear Merrick Garland for seven months in an election year, "shows a disregard for the democratic process and the American people."

"As Americans are casting their ballots, Senate Republicans and the (Trump) administration rushed the process of a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land to reap political gain," Dean said in a statement Monday night. "The acceleration of the process before the fast approaching Election Day displays dangerous haste from Senate Republicans."

Barrett's confirmation tips the balance in the Supreme Court decisively to the right, as conservative justices now have a 6-3 majority. Barrett is President Trump's third's appointee to the Supreme Court following Neal Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, assuring that regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election, some part of Trump's legacy will be woven into the fabric of Washington for decades.

"Appointing Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court may perhaps be the greatest accomplishment of President Trump’s first term," Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale said Tuesday.

The conservative Barrett replaces longtime liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"She follows a giant," Dean said. "I hope Justice Barrett will remember how far we have come."

Dean added her concern for issues like abortion and Roe v. Wade, the Affordable Care Act, and immigration under Barrett and the heavily conservative bench.

The Senate confirmed Barrett by a vote of 52-48 on Monday. Every Democrat opposed the confirmation, as did one Republican: Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.