Biden and Pelosi claim Trump is 'in a hurry' to confirm Supreme Court pick so he can 'throw out Obamacare' - as President tweets that getting rid of it 'would be a big WIN for the USA'
Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is concerned that President Donald Trump is rushing through his Supreme Court nominee because he wants to take down the Affordable Care Act at the highest U.S. court.
'What I am concerned about is anyone that President Trump would have appointed was there to undo the Affordable Care Act,' Pelosi told CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday morning. 'That is why he was in such a hurry, so he could have been in place for the oral arguments which begin November 10.'
Trump announced Saturday federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the third Supreme Court nominee of his presidency.
He also touted he has a cheaper replacement ready if Obamacare were struck down at the Supreme Court – a likely outcome as Barrett's confirmation is essentially a given with a Republican-majority Senate.
'Obamacare will be replaced with a MUCH better, and FAR cheaper, alternative if it is terminated in the Supreme Court. Would be a big WIN for the USA!' the president tweeted Sunday morning.
The president said he chose Barrett because he wanted both a woman nominee and a constitutional textualist to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Donald Trump is 'in a hurry' to confirm his Supreme Court pick so justices can strike down Obamacare
Trump touted Sunday on Twitter that 'Obamacare will be replaced with a MUCH better, and FAR cheaper, alternative if it is terminated in the Supreme Court'
The most liberal justice on the Supreme Court died last Friday due to complications from pancreatic cancer – leaving a seat open with just over a month to go until the presidential election.
Pelosi also said during her interview with CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday that Barrett earning a seat on the court would be detrimental to women's health. She was likely referencing concerns that Barrett, a devout Catholic, could contribute another vote to overturning Roe v. Wade.
'It doesn't matter what the process is here. What matters is what it means personally to the American people,' Pelosi said. 'If you have a preexisting medical condition, that benefit will be gone. If you are a woman, we will be back to a time where being a woman is a preexisting medical condition.'
it's up to the Senate to make that judgment and to have those – that process,' the House Speaker continued. 'Whoever he appointed was going to be there to overturn the Affordable Care Act.'
'This is unfortunate that the president would be so disrespectful and rush into this. But, nonetheless, that's what it is,' she said.
Barrett is a Trump-nominated judge on the Chicago-based 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals. She vowed she would 'apply the law as written' as she formally accepted Trump's Supreme Court nomination during brief remarks outside the White House Saturday.
The mother of seven has been hailed by religious conservatives and others on the right as an ideological heir to conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia, the late Supreme Court justice for whom she clerked.
She said Saturday she was 'truly humbled' by the nomination and quickly aligned herself with Scalia's conservative approach to the law, saying his 'judicial philosophy is mine, too.'
'I was lucky enough to clerk for Justice Scalia. And given his incalculable influence on my life, I am very moved to have members of the Scalia family here today, including his dear wife, Maureen. I clerked for Justice Scalia more than 20 years ago, but the lessons I learned still resonate,' Barrett said.
'His judicial philosophy is mine, too. A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold,' she added.