Stabenow congratulates Coney Barrett, says she’ll vote against her over health care

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said Sunday that she would not support Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, because it would “be the vote that takes away health care for millions of Americans.”

“Fox News Sunday” guest host Brit Hume asked Stabenow if there was “any chance” she would vote to confirm Barrett’s nomination. In reply, Stabenow congratulated Barrett on her nomination.

However, she said she would vote against Coney Barrett and noted that the country was still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s very clear from her writings, multiple writings, that she will be the vote that takes away health care for millions of Americans, including 130 million people and counting with pre-existing conditions, and of course those are going up every day because of the health pandemic,” she said.

Hume asked Stabenow which writings she was referring to. Stabenow referenced Hume’s guest in the previous segment, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, and noted that Barrett has “[laid] out her criticisms of the court for essentially not repealing [the Affordable Care Act] sooner.” In a 2017 Notre Dame Law School article, Barrett quoted Justice Antonin Scalia’s criticisms of 2012 and 2015 decisions upholding most of the law.

Beyond Barrett’s writings, Stabenow said, both President Trump and Republicans in general have indicated their “number one priority … has been to take away people’s health care.’

“President Trump, meanwhile certainly has given every indication that he wants the Supreme Court to act in favor of the case that he has supported,” she added, referencing a lawsuit backed by the Justice Department to scrap the entire law. “What we have is a rush to judgment to put someone on the court who’s going to take away people’s health care… I just don’t get it.”

Hume asked Stabenow whether she believed Trump nominating Barrett was itself “legitimate.”

“It’s certainly legitimate for him to make a nomination, [but] we also know it’s clear in the record in the Senate that between July and November of a presidential election year there has never been a confirmation of a United States Supreme Court justice,” Stabenow replied.