The third day of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing featured more questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and again, Democrats hoped to get specific answers from the Supreme Court nominee.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) used his time to explore Barrett’s opinions on the powers of the president, asking Barrett, “Is a president who refuses to comply with a court order a threat to our Constitutional system?”
Asked again, Barrett said, “The Supreme Court can’t control whether or not a president obeys … a court can pronounce the law and issue a judgment, but it lacks control over how the political branches respond to it.”
When pressed moments later, Barrett added, “No one is above the law.”
Watch the video below:
Sen. Patrick Leahy: “Is a president who refuses to comply with a court order a threat to our Constitutional system?”
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 14, 2020
“The Supreme Court can’t control whether or not the president obeys,” Amy Coney Barrett says, but adds, “no one is above the law.” https://t.co/sveO9LgQnp pic.twitter.com/dqfpiFTM8I
Additionally, Leahy got specific when asking Barrett, “Does a president have an absolute right to pardon himself for a crime?”
But Barrett declined to give an answer, saying, “So far as I know, that question has never been litigated, that question has never arisen, that question may or may not arise. But it’s one that calls for legal analysis of what the scope of the pardon power is. So, because it would be opining on an open question when I haven’t gone through the judicial process to decide it, it’s not one on which I can offer a view.”
The Vermont senator noted that “you were willing to say that no person, not you, not me, not a president is above the law. I find your answers somewhat incompatible but those are your answers, you have a right to say what you want.”
Sen. Patrick Leahy: "Does a president have an absolute right to pardon himself?"
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 14, 2020
Amy Coney Barrett: "Because it would be opining on an open question when I haven't gone through the judicial process to decide it, it's not one in which I can offer to view" https://t.co/dzP88rFuB4 pic.twitter.com/ZGtqloXYwc
Barrett is almost guaranteed to be seated on the Supreme Court, as Republicans have said that they have the votes to confirm her. President Donald Trump has said that he believes that the 2020 election results will end up before the Supreme Court and that he feels it is important to have nine judges sitting on the court.