What to watch for when Kamala Harris questions Amy Coney Barrett at her nomination hearing this week

WASHINGTON – Sen. Kamala Harris has a unique opportunity as the Democratic nominee for vice president to question President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court when Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing that begins Monday.

Everything about the nomination is contentious. Democrats contend the vacancy created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on Sept. 18 should remain open until after the Nov. 3 election, so voters could help decide who fills the seat. Republicans insist it must be filled quickly.

Barrett, a conservative jurist, would succeed one of the most liberal in Ginsburg. If confirmed, Barrett could rule on challenges to how the election was conducted and on a case seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act scheduled for oral arguments Nov. 10.

Judiciary Committee Democrats have already demanded more information from Barrett about her background, particularly dealing with the high court's precedent establishing the right to abortion. But Republicans have criticized Harris for how she questioned other nominees, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and accused Democrats of anti-Catholic bias that could hurt Barrett.

For Harris, her dual role as a committee member and national candidate carries potential benefits of promoting her own priorities, but also risk of becoming a target for political attacks.

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“It’s an opportunity for Sen. Harris to show her stuff,” Joel Goldstein, a vice presidential scholar and emeritus law professor at St. Louis University. “It’s really going to present an interesting dynamic in a way that could almost be something of a second debate for her.”

A spokesman for Harris said Sunday she will attend Barrett’s confirmation hearings remotely due to coronavirus concerns after two Senate Republicans, who sit on the Judiciary committee, tested positive last week.

"Due to Judiciary Committee Republicans’ refusal to take commonsense steps to protect members, aides, Capitol complex workers, and members of the media, Senator Harris plans to participate in this week’s hearings remotely from her Senate office in the Hart building," spokesman Chris Harris said. 

Here are things to watch about Harris during the hearing:

The speed of filling the seat

President Donald Trump has said it was his right to fill the seat after Ginsburg's death Sept. 18 and he named Barrett on Sept. 26. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he expects the Senate to vote on Barrett’s confirmation during October.

“We're moving along very quickly,” Trump said Sept. 27.

But Harris joined Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in criticizing the haste of Republicans to fill the seat on the high court.

The late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat remained open for more than a year because Senate Republicans refused to consider former President Barack Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, during the 2016 election year.

Democrats have argued whoever wins the election should name Ginsburg’s successor.

“We're literally in an election. Over 4 million people have voted. People are in the process of voting right now,” Harris said during the vice presidential debate Wednesday. “Let the American people fill that seat in the White House, and then we'll fill that seat on the United States Supreme Court.”

GOP concerns about expanding court

Republicans have questioned whether Biden will seek to expand the number of seats on the court to prevent a conservative majority.

“If you haven’t figured it out yet, the straight answer is, they are going to pack the Supreme Court,” Vice President Mike Pence said at the debate.

Biden and Harris have repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether they would try to expand the court. Biden told reporters Thursday that he would lay out in detail his plans for the court after the election.

Referring to the term “court packing,” Harris said at the debate that none of the 50 judges Trump nominated to federal appeals courts have been Black.

“This is what they’ve been doing,” said Harris, whose parents immigrated from Jamaica and India. “You want to talk about packing a court? Let’s have that discussion."

Justice Brett Kavanaugh's hearing

Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, gained the national spotlight during the 2018 Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were both teenagers – allegations he has denied strenuously.

Harris' grilling of Kavanaugh remains fresh in the minds of Republicans. Trump blasted Harris on Aug. 11 over her questioning of Kavanaugh.

"I thought she was the meanest, the most horrible most disrespectful of anybody in the U.S. Senate,” Trump told reporters during a White House briefing.

Harris' priorities

Linda Greene, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said she expects Harris focus on the constitutionality of Obamacare because Barrett has argued that Chief Justice John Roberts “pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.”

Greene said Harris may also ask Barrett about respect for past Supreme Court decisions, under a doctrine called “stare decisis,” for letting previous decisions stand, such as rulings upholding Obamacare and reproductive choice for women. Barrett has written that “following precedents might sometimes be unlawful,” Greene said.

“I expect Sen. Harris to focus on issues that are understandable to the broad public and also important to the Biden Harris campaign,” Greene said.

Judiciary Democrats asked in their letter to Barrett for more information about a 2006 letter she signed "that opposed women’s reproductive freedoms and explicitly called for overturning Roe v. Wade."

Harris told reporters Sept. 28 that she would focus on preserving the Affordable Care Act, the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade and workers’ rights.

“There’s a lot at stake when we look at the Supreme Court,” Harris said.

“I’m going to be very focused on whether there is going to be a process of reviewing that lawsuit that Donald Trump has brought to get rid of the Affordable Care Act because he tried to get rid of everything Barack Obama created,” Harris said.

“I’m going to be looking at the issue of Roe v. Wade and whether there is going to an adherence to precedent and an adherence to a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, with her family, with her God, with her physician,” Harris added.

On workplace issues, Harris said she would ask about continuing a commitment to the integrity of laws protecting collective bargaining and the right to equal pay for equal work.

Trump has promoted reducing regulations during his first term. And Pence said Trump stands for the sanctity of human life.

“I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it,” Pence said during the debate. “And this is another one of those cases where there's such a dramatic contrast.”

Accusations of anti-Catholic bias

Republicans have accused Democrats including Harris of anti-Catholic bias and warned it could hurt Barrett’s confirmation. But Harris denied knocking anyone for their faith.

Part of the accusation stems from written questions Harris submitted in December 2018 to District Court nominee Brian Buescher about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic group.

“Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?” Harris asked in one question. “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when you joined the organization?” she asked in another.

Pence said at the debate that Harris attacked the nominee because of the group’s pro-life views.

“We will not stand for any attacks against Judge Barrett’s faith,” Trump said Oct. 1 in a recording for the charitable Al Smith Memorial Dinner. “Anti-Catholic bigotry has absolutely no place in the United States of America.”

But Harris replied at the debate that she and Biden are both people of faith.

“It's insulting to suggest that we would knock anyone for their faith,” Harris said. “In fact, Joe if elected will be only the second practicing Catholic, as president of the United States.”

Another part of the accusation stemmed from Barrett’s 2017 confirmation hearing for the federal appeals court. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., questioned what role religion would play in the court.

“I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different,” Feinstein said. “And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you.”

Barrett said she would keep her personal views separate from her judging.

“If you’re asking whether I take my faith seriously and I’m a faithful Catholic, I am,” Barrett told senators. “Although I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear in the discharge of my duties as a judge.”

Republicans could criticize Harris

Republicans on the committee include several who face their own competitive reelection efforts, including Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Joni Ernst of Iowa.

Those senators might tangle with Harris to bolster their own political positions, Goldstein said. Others such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, John Kennedy of Louisiana and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee could wield sound bites against Harris, Goldstein said.

“Some of them are not among the warmest and fuzziest members of the Senate,” Goldstein said. “I think they’re going to use the hearing as a way to score points against her.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News Oct. 4 that Harris revealed in the Kavanaugh hearings “what a terrible politician she is.”

“I expect she will launch the same kind of attacks that she did in the past,” Cotton said.

Contributing: Maureen Groppe