JUDY WOODRUFF: Day one of
the confirmation hearings for
Judge Amy Coney Barrett is in

the books, and the battle
for this U.S. Supreme
Court seat has been joined.

President Trump and
Republicans are pushing
to put a conservative
stamp on the High Court

for years to come. Democrats are
warning of what that could mean.

John Yang begins our coverage.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The
hearing to confirm Judge Amy
Barrett to the Supreme Court

will now begin.

JOHN YANG: In an appropriately
distanced Senate hearing room,
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney

Barrett appeared before a
divided Senate Judiciary
Committee and a divided nation.

Wearing a mask, Barrett was
backed by her husband and six
of their seven children. In

her first public remarks since
being nominated, she told
senators her judicial philosophy

was inspired by her mentor, the
late Justice Antonin Scalia,
for whom she was a clerk.

AMY CONEY BARRETT, Supreme
Court Justice Nominee:
It was the content of
Justice Scalia's reasoning

that shaped me. His judicial
philosophy was straightforward:
A judge must apply the law

as it is written, not
as she wishes it were.

JOHN YANG: She said
making policy belongs to
lawmakers, not judges.

AMY CONEY BARRETT: Courts are
not designed to solve every
problem or right every wrong

in our public life. The policy
decisions and value judgments
of government must be made

by the political branches,
elected by and accountable to
the people. The public should

not expect courts to do so,
and courts should not try.

JOHN YANG: But policy was
what Democrats focused on.

They said her confirmation was
being fast-tracked this election
year so she would be on the

bench for oral arguments
November 10 in a case that 20
Republican-led states brought

against the Affordable
Care Act, or ACA.

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE
(D-RI): The big, secretive
influences behind this
unseemly rush see this

nominee as a judicial torpedo
they are firing at the ACA.

JOHN YANG: Democrats spoke
of constituents who they said
would lose health insurance

if the ACA was struck down.

Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii:

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI):
The consequences of Judge
Barrett's confirmation
would be devastating

for millions of Americans
who would lose their health
care during this pandemic.

JOHN YANG: Some of Barrett's
Republican defenders
said her potential vote
on the ACA case should

not be prejudged.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas:

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): You
stand accused of intending to
violate your oath before you

even take it. Further,
our Democratic colleagues
want you to guarantee
a result in a case as

a quid pro quo for your
confirmation. It's outrageous.

JOHN YANG: Democrats renewed
their objections to filling the
vacancy so close to Election

Day.

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware:

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): There
is no precedent in our nation's
history for confirming a Supreme

Court nominee by the Senate
this close to a presidential
election, in which a majority

of states are already voting.

JOHN YANG: Speaking from her
office, committee member and
vice presidential nominee Kamala

Harris said lawmakers
should instead be aiding
financially strapped Americans.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA),
Vice Presidential Candidate:
Senate Republicans have made it

crystal clear that rushing a
Supreme Court nomination is
more important than helping

and supporting the
American people who are
suffering from a deadly
pandemic and a devastating

economic crisis.

JOHN YANG: Republicans said
they were simply fulfilling
their constitutional duty.

SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID):
The Senate is today
exercising its duty to move
forward with processing

this nomination, just like the
vast majority of Senates in
the past have done every time

this has happened.

JOHN YANG: Barrett describes
herself as a faithful Catholic,
and in her 2017 confirmation

for the appeals court, some
Democrats raised her faith in
the context of abortion rights.

Today, it was only
Republicans who brought it up.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): When
you tell somebody that they're
too Catholic to be on the bench,

when you tell somebody they're
going to be a Catholic judge,
not an American judge, that's

bigotry. The pattern and
practice of bigotry from members
of this committee must stop.

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): It's
really quite simple what your
opponents are doing. They

are attacking you, as a
mom and a woman of faith,
because they cannot attack
your qualifications.

JOHN YANG: Today's first of a
scheduled four days of hearings
lacked the usual charged

atmosphere of a high-stakes
Supreme Court nomination.

Because of COVID-19, the only
spectators allowed were a small
number of journalists and Senate

staff. Some senators appeared
remotely. But outside the Hart
Senate Office Building, Barrett

supporters gathered
on sidewalks.

WOMAN: And, as far as I'm
concerned, the man is president.

JOHN YANG: While a block away,
on the steps of the Supreme
Court building, supporters

and opponents faced off.

Committee Chair Lindsey Graham
predicted that, when all was
said and done, the outcome would

not be surprising.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: This is
probably not about persuading
each other. Unless something

really dramatic happens, all
Republicans will vote yes and
all Democrats will vote no.

JOHN YANG: Tomorrow, Barrett
is to begin two days of
scheduled questioning.

For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm John Yang.