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Infected senator vows ‘moon suit’ to vote Trump’s court pick

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Barrett graduated with honors in 1994 from a small liberal arts school, Rhodes College in Memphis. Many alumni have posted a letter on social media expressing their opposition to Barrett's nomination to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court after Ginsburg's death last month.(Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Barrett graduated with honors in 1994 from a small liberal arts school, Rhodes College in Memphis. Many alumni have posted a letter on social media expressing their opposition to Barrett's nomination to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court after Ginsburg's death last month.(Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool) Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Barrett graduated with honors in 1994 from a small liberal arts school, Rhodes College in Memphis. Many alumni have posted a letter on social media expressing their opposition to Barrett's nomination to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court after Ginsburg's death last month.(Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

By LISA MASCARO / Associated Press 5 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Shuttered by COVID-19 infections, the Republican-led Senate is refusing to delay confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court. They are even willing to make special arrangements so sick senators can vote for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and Democrats appear powerless to stop them.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Monday that he’ll go to the Capitol “in a moon suit” to vote if he’s still testing positive for the coronavirus, which has killed more than 209,000 Americans and infected millions.

The push to put conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett on the high court before Nov. 3 is like nothing seen in U.S. history so close to a presidential election. Trump’s nomination of Barrett in a Rose Garden ceremony apparently became ground zero for the infections now gripping the president, his White House and its Senate allies. Three GOP senators, including Johnson, have now tested positive for the virus and several more are quarantined at home – denying Republicans a functioning majority.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chair of the Judiciary Committee, said after talking by phone Monday with Trump that the president is “very excited” about Barrett being confirmed to the Supreme Court.

The rush to confirm Trump’s third court nominee is as much about securing a conservative court for a generation to come as it is about giving Republicans what they see as their best chances at reelection. With Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden in polls and their own Senate majority at risk, Republicans hope a Supreme Court vote in the week before Election Day will save their jobs.