Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday attempted to assure the Senate Judiciary Committee that she is "not hostile" to the Affordable Care Act, which has become a focal point for Democrats during Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked Barrett about her prior criticisms of the high court's rulings that upheld the ACA, including her 2017 assertion that Chief Justice John Roberts "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute" in 2012. Barrett didn't explicitly refute that critique, but she tried to differentiate between her opinion on the court's legal decision and any personal views on the policy itself.
"I think that your concern is that because I critiqued the statutory reasoning that I'm hostile to the ACA, and that because I'm hostile to the ACA that I would decide a case a particular way, and I assure you that I am not," Barrett told Durbin, adding that she is not hostile to "any statute that you pass." Tim O'Donnell
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Taiwan eyes Iron Dome-like defence against ChinaUnder the Radar President announces historic increase in defence spending as Chinese aggression towards autonomous island escalates
-
Political cartoons for November 30Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the Saudi-China relationship, MAGA spelled wrong, and more
-
Rothermere’s Telegraph takeover: ‘a right-leaning media powerhouse’Talking Point Deal gives Daily Mail and General Trust more than 50% of circulation in the UK newspaper market
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
