A new report says former University of Florida president Ben Sasse spent over $1.3 million on private catering for lavish dinners, football tailgates and extravagant social functions.

A judge’s stunning decision to dismiss the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump brought the prosecution to a halt.

The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against Donald Trump has refused to throw out charges against a co-defendant of the former president.

Senators criticized top federal officials over the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes in the U.S., a multibillion-dollar business that has flourished in recent years.

A congressional committee is accusing China of fueling the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. A report released Tuesday by a House select committee says China is directly subsidizing the manufacturing of materials used by drug traffickers to make fentanyl outside the country.

A Senate committee has issued bipartisan subpoenas to the CEOs of Discord, Snap and X, demanding that the heads of the three companies testify at a December hearing on protecting children online.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have abruptly adjourned a meeting without an expected vote on subpoenas for two conservatives who helped arrange luxury travel and other benefits for Supreme Court justices.

The California professor who testified that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had assaulted her while they were in high school has written a memoir.

The federal judge who freed boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and famously said tobacco companies engaged in a “vast” conspiracy to conceal the dangers of smoking has died in California.

Senate Democrats moved three of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees along party lines Thursday after weeks of delay due to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s extended absence.

Senate Democrats are promising to pursue stronger ethics rules for the Supreme Court in the wake of reports that Justice Clarence Thomas participated in luxury vacations and a real estate deal with a top GOP donor.

Chief Justice John Roberts has declined a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify at a hearing next week on ethical standards at the court, instead providing the panel with a statement of ethics reaffirmed by the court’s justices.

Democrats’ efforts to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee are meeting quick opposition from some Republicans.

A Texas judge who sparked a legal firestorm with an unprecedented ruling halting approval of the nation’s most common method of abortion is a former attorney for a religious liberty legal group with a long history pushing conservative causes.

A Texas judge hearing a case that could throw into jeopardy access to the nation’s most common method of abortion is a former attorney for a Christian legal group who critics say is being sought out by conservative litigants because they believe he’ll be sympathetic to their causes.

Attorney General Merrick Garland says he won’t interfere with an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes run by the U.S. Attorney in Delaware.

Democrats recently celebrated the 100th judicial confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidency and are clamoring for more.

Nebraska's outgoing U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse left office Sunday to become the University of Florida's new president and said he knows he may be remembered more for his criticisms of former President Donald Trump than for the policies he supported.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says her office has been issued a subpoena in connection with Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of former President Donald Trump.

The Michigan Supreme Court has reinstated poll challenger guidance for local clerks ahead of Tuesday's election.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is the sole finalist to become president of the University of Florida, the school says, and the Republican senator has indicated he will take the job.

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth are urging the Education Department to strengthen regulations against excluding kids from class because of behaviors related to a disability — a practice known as informal removal.

The central idea behind House and Senate bills to reform an arcane federal election law is simple: Congress should not decide presidential elections.

U.S. lawmakers are anxious to hear from Twitter’s former security chief, who has alarmed Washington with allegations that the influential social network misled regulators about its cyber defenses and efforts to control fake accounts.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says he plans to hold an oversight hearing on the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons after The Associated Press reported that the agency is keeping its embattled ex-director on the payroll as an adviser to his successor.

A top official says the Justice Department has charged five people for making threats of violence against election workers amid a rising wave of harassment and intimidation tied to the 2020 presidential election.

The outgoing director of the Bureau of Prisons has been subpoenaed to testify before a Senate committee examining abuse and corruption in the beleaguered federal agency.

The executive director of the nonprofit Advocates for Minor Leaguers has recommended Congress enact legislation nullifying Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption as it applies to minor league players.

The chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to an advocacy group for minor leaguers asking questions about baseball’s antitrust exemption.

Academy Award–winning actor Matthew McConaughey has offered an emotional call on Congress to “reach a higher ground” and pass gun control legislation.

The son of an 86-year-old woman killed in the racist Buffalo mass shooting is calling on Congress to act against domestic terrorism.

President Joe Biden has been intimately involved in some of the gun control movement's greatest successes — and failures.

Less than a day after a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, a Wednesday Senate hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reflected the deep political divisions over guns.

In one form or another, every Supreme Court nominee is asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of the landmark abortion rights ruling that has stood for a half century.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee worked on early efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, helping push legally dubious schemes to keep then-President Donald Trump in power, before he shifted course and quickly backed away.

California is advancing an innovative new way to deter illegal weapons, spurred by a mass shooting near the state Capitol.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is pushing Ketanji Brown Jackson closer to confirmation, setting up a vote next week to recommend her nomination to the full Senate and seat her as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson had to endure hours of public scrutiny from skeptics during her Senate hearings this past week, and that's something familiar to many Black women.

Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has announced his intention to support the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, pushing her one step closer to confirmation.

The historic Senate hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who's the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court, have been joyful, combative and clarifying.

After more than 30 hours of hearings, the Senate is on track to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

The latest nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, has stressed the importance of religious faith in her life and career.

History was made the instant Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The first full day of questions for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson opened with some very big ones — on judicial philosophy, terrorism and race.

The Supreme Court says it won’t review the case of a Seattle-based Christian organization that was sued after declining to hire a bisexual lawyer who applied for a job.

Judge Ketanji Brown is pledging to defend the Constitution and decide cases “without fear or favor” if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court, is going before the Senate Judiciary Committee with the path to her historic confirmation seemingly clear.

The first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court is likely to face questioning at her Senate hearing that would have been familiar to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black man who served on the high court.

99-0.

Dozens of the nation’s top law enforcement officials have signed a letter urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden knows better than anyone the unexpected turns a Supreme Court nomination can take after it lands on Capitol Hill.

The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland take immediate action to reform the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons.

President Joe Biden is expected to nominate veteran diplomat Bridget Brink to serve as his ambassador to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden is reaching out to Republican as well as Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee leaders as he works to gain GOP support for his Supreme Court nominee.

Senate Democrats have played defense for the last three Supreme Court vacancies.

Agents with an investigative unit of the Department of Homeland Security will wear body cameras for the first time as part of a six-month pilot program that will focus on the costs and benefits of using the technology in federal law enforcement.

Many progressives have started lining up behind an emerging social and environment bill that’s neither as big nor as bold as they’d wanted.

Officials are taking a closer look into the FBI agents in connection with the Larry Nassar Investigation as new information has come to light about what happened when gymnasts first reported to investigators.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday on the Justice Department’s inspector general report on the FBI’s handling of the Larry Nassar investigation.

Senators have met privately with a former U.S. attorney in Atlanta who resigned in January as then-President Donald Trump pressured officials to overturn his election defeat.

President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats are putting judges on federal trial and appellate courts at a much faster clip than Biden’s recent predecessors.

The Senate has confirmed the first appellate court judge of President Joe Biden’s tenure.

A Latvian woman has been charged with developing malicious software used by a major cybercrime digital network that infected computers worldwide and looted bank accounts of millions of dollars.

Senate Democrats are holding new Georgia voting rules up as a warning as they push a broad legislative overhaul of U.S. elections.

The Department of Health reported more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the highest since the pandemic hit the country. Fauci told CNN it seemed like the Trump virus team was “fighting with each other rather than fighting the virus.”AdIn his statement, Trump says “Dr. Texas has administered more than 10 million vaccine doses. Jared Polis has announced that residents over age 16 will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine starting Friday. Ad___NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson says it’s agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer.

Democrats are vowing action on several of their top priorities in April, including strengthening hate crime laws to include Asian Americans and restoring voting rights protections to combat minority voter suppression. It would seek to restore elements of the Voting Rights Act that were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013, a decision that Democrats say left minority voters vulnerable to disenfranchisement. Democrats see it as a forceful response to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country. Republicans are strongly opposed to the voting rights bill, arguing that it would tilt elections toward Democrats and take control of elections away from the states. While strengthening background checks is broadly popular among the American public, Senate Republicans have said they oppose the two House bills.

Judge Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden's pick to be attorney general, answers questions from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., as he appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Garland will now inherit a Justice Department embattled by a turbulent era under Trump, who insisted that the attorney general and the department must be loyal to him personally, battering the department’s reputation. In the last month of Trump's presidency, Attorney General William Barr resigned after refuting Trump's false claims that widespread electoral fraud had led to his defeat. Ad“Let’s hope our incoming attorney general applies that no-nonsense approach to the serious challenges facing the Department of Justice and our nation,” McConnell said. “So I very much want to be the kind of attorney general that you’re saying I could become, and I’ll do my best to become that kind of attorney general.”___Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2020 file photo, Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett has delivered her first opinion. Barrett wrote for the court that certain draft documents do not have to be disclosed under FOIA. The 11-page opinion comes in the first case Barrett heard after joining the court in late October following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered her first Supreme Court majority opinion Thursday, ruling against an environmental group that had sought access to government records.

Guard troops who had been waiting on buses were then rushed to the Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, Walker said. Much of the focus at Wednesday's hearing was on communications between the National Guard and the Defense Department. Contee said Sund pleaded with Army officials to deploy National Guard troops as the rioting escalated. AdAccording to the Defense Department, Walker was called at 3 p.m. by Army officials, and was told to prepare Guard troops to deploy. Thousands of National Guard troops are still patrolling the fenced-in Capitol, and multiple committees across Congress are investigating Jan. 6.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The Latest on FBI Director Chris Wray's testimony about the Capitol insurrection (all times local):12:30 p.m. The FBI director is declining to comment on the cause of the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who collapsed after responding to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and died the next day. FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday the agency is “not at a point” where it can disclose or confirm the cause of death. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FBI DIRECTOR CHRIS WRAY'S TESTIMONY ON THE CAPITOL INSURRECTION:FBI Director Chris Wray condemns the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” as he defends the bureau’s handling of intelligence indicating the prospect for violence.

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Wray’s message to lawmakers was clear: The attack on the Capitol was domestic terrorism -- and it’s a growing problem. “We view the events of January 6 as domestic terrorism,” Wray said. “We have not seen evidence of that at this stage.”DURBIN: Do you have any evidence that the Capitol attack was organized by 'fake Trump protesters'? • 270,000+ digital media tips sent from public• 300+ arrested pic.twitter.com/dogXo1W7pJ — NBC News (@NBCNews) March 2, 2021More: FBI chief calls Jan. 6 ‘domestic terrorism,’ defends intel

Judge Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden's pick to be attorney general, answers questions from Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., as he appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to advance the nomination of Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general. The committee voted 15 to seven in favor of Garland's nomination at a meeting on Monday afternoon. The committee’s vote puts him on track for a quick confirmation, potentially within days. AdThe committee’s top Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said he also intends to support Garland’s nomination.

Judge Merrick Garland, nominee to be Attorney General, testifies at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden's nominee for attorney general, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing on Monday. 1993-1997: Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division. KEY CASE: While at the Justice Department, Garland supervised the investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. AdKEY QUOTE FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL HEARING: “The president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer, not for any individual, but for the people of the United States.”___This story was first published on Feb. 22, 2021.

He hung out in the Senate cloakroom chatting up legislators as vice president. But some of Biden’s courtship is also directed at members of his own party to make sure a deal gets done. As vice president, Biden was a trusted emissary to Capitol Hill for Obama, who had served just four years in the Senate. Lott said Biden was not someone he recalls as often being in the room when Senate leadership was trying to work out a deal on major bills. “There’s people who say you can’t work with the other side,” Biden said a year ago.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks to the media, Wednesday Dec. 30, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The group of House and Senate Republicans are echoing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. Democrat Nancy Pelosi was set to be reelected as House speaker by her party, which retains the majority in the House but with the slimmest margin in 20 years. Hawley specifically defended himself against criticism from GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania as he challenges that state’s election results. Rep. Nancy Pelosi is set to be reelected as House speaker by fellow Democrats, who retain the House majority but with the slimmest margin in 20 years.

“I will not be participating in a project to overturn the election,” Sasse wrote. When Congress convenes to certify the Electoral College results, any lawmaker can object to a state’s votes on any grounds. If they disagree, the original electoral votes are counted. Trump and his allies have filed roughly 50 lawsuits challenging election results, and nearly all has been dismissed or dropped. The group of House Republicans has said it plans to challenge the election results from Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada.

He has pushed Republican senators to pursue his unfounded charges even though the Electoral College this month cemented Biden’s 306-232 victory and multiple legal efforts to challenge the results have failed. When Congress convenes to certify the Electoral College results, any lawmaker can object to a state’s votes on any grounds. If they disagree, the original electoral votes are counted. Trump and his allies have filed roughly 50 lawsuits challenging election results, and nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. The group of House Republicans have said they plan to challenge the election results from Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada.

The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend. “This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill,” he said. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

WASHINGTON – California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday she will step down from her role as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving up the powerful spot after public criticism of her bipartisan outreach and her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearings. Feinstein, 87, said in a statement that she would not seek the position in the next Congress. 2 Democrat, said he will seek to replace Feinstein as the committee's top Democrat. He led daily news conferences during breaks in the hearings with the other Democrats on the panel while Feinstein usually did not appear. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts.

(Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator and third in the line of presidential succession, said he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Grassley, 87, had announced earlier Tuesday that he was quarantining after being exposed to the virus and was waiting for test results. At least three members of the House have tested positive in the last week, and several more are quarantining. Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was also absent as he is in quarantine after an exposure. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also took their masks off when speaking on the Senate floor Monday.

Republican senators, including Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, revived complaints of censorship and anti-conservative bias against the social media platforms. The actions that Twitter and Facebook took to quell the spread of disinformation angered Trump and his supporters. They have focused their concern on hate speech and incitement on social media platforms that can spawn violence. Twitter and Facebook have both slapped a misinformation label on some content from Trump, most notably his assertions linking voting by mail to fraud. For days after the election as the vote counting went on, copycat “Stop the Steal” groups were easily found on Facebook.

The committee summoned the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google to testify during the hearing. (Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The CEOs of Facebook and Twitter are being summoned before Congress to defend their handling of disinformation in the 2020 presidential election, even as lawmakers questioning them are deeply divided over the election's integrity and results. Twitter and Facebook have both slapped a misinformation label on some content from Trump, most notably his assertions linking voting by mail to fraud. Facebook insists that it has learned its lesson from the 2016 election and is no longer a conduit for misinformation, voter suppression and election disruption. The organization had pressed Facebook to take down the “Stop the Steal” group.

Joe Biden has chosen his longtime adviser Ron Klain to reprise his role as his chief of staff, installing an aide with decades of experience across. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):10:45 p.m.Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain says President-elect Joe Biden will appoint a “COVID coordinator” who will lead the administration’s pandemic response. ___3:25 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden has spoken with the top two Democrats in Congress — but not their Republican counterparts yet. ___1 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden has spoken by phone with Pope Francis as he continues to talk with leaders around the world. Democrats already control the House, and Democrat Joe Biden is the president-elect after beating President Donald Trump in their White House contest.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., questions former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, on a probe of the FBI's Russia investigation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump may have lost his bid for reelection, but that hasn’t stopped Senate Republicans from pressing forward with their politically charged probe of the FBI’s Russia investigation. “This is a last ditch, desperate undertaking to deal with President Trump’s grievances about that election,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said of the hearing. Most of the criticism of the Russia investigation has centered on flaws in applications to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Even so, a Justice Department inspector general report from last year concluded that the Russia investigation was opened for a valid and legitimate purpose.

The former astronaut defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s death in 2018. Daines’ first election in 2014 broke a Democratic lock on the Senate seat that had lasted more than 100 years. The six-term congressman from northern New Mexico defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist, and Libertarian Bob Walsh. Reed cruised to victory over Waters, an investment consultant who mounted earlier unsuccessful campaigns for state Senate and U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade in a low-key race in which the incumbent had a massive cash advantage.

Grant Hermes and the Trust Index team will be fact checking the debate live tonight on ClickOnDetroit. Trending 📈Experts look to Wisconsin’s COVID-19 numbers as a warningUntil the beginning of September, Wisconsin’s 7-day average stayed below 1,000 a day. New COVID-19 cases and deaths have increased in the last month in Michigan. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 3.2 million have recovered in the U.S., with more than 8.2 million cases reported across the country. More: County health officials monitor data as climbing COVID-19 cases draw concern in MichiganHere’s a look at more of the data:

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate as Republicans powered past Democrats' boycott of the session. Read update: GOP-led Senate panel advances Barrett despite Dems' boycottWatch live coverage:Despite a Democratic boycott, Republicans are powering ahead to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by Election Day with the Senate Judiciary Committee set to recommend President Donald Trump’s nominee to the full Senate. Never before has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court pick so close to a presidential election. Thursday’s Judiciary Committee vote is expected to launch a rare weekend Senate session to push Barrett’s nomination forward, as millions of Americans are casting early ballots. “Judge Barrett deserves a vote and she will receive a vote,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the committee chairman, in a statement.

Never has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee so close to a presidential election. As the Judiciary panel met, protesters, some shouting “Stop the confirmation!” demonstrated outside the Capitol across the street from the Supreme Court. The protesters drowned out Democratic senators who had called a news conference to decry what they called a “sham” confirmation process. With Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the Senate, Trump’s pick for the court is almost certain to be confirmed. “We did it.”Barrett, an appellate court judge from Indiana, appeared for three days before the Judiciary panel last week, batting back Democrats' questions.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, arrives for closed meetings with senators, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced the planned boycott in a speech late Wednesday on the Senate floor. No Supreme Court nominee has ever been confirmed so close to a presidential election. “Judge Barrett deserves a vote and she will receive a vote,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the committee chairman, in a statement. No Senate Democrats are expected to support Barrett's confirmation.

WASHINGTON – Wasting no time, the Senate is on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by next Monday, charging toward a rare weekend session as Republicans push past procedural steps to install President Donald Trump's pick before Election Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will begin the process as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up its work Thursday. McConnell said Monday that Barrett demonstrated over several days of public hearings the “sheer intellectual horsepower that the American people deserve to have on the Supreme Court." They are searching for two more GOP senators to break ranks and halt confirmation, but that seems unlikely. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet Thursday to vote on recommending Barrett's nomination to the full Senate.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett departs with her husband, Jesse, after the third day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – For Republicans, the nomination fight over Amy Coney Barrett is a chance to seal conservative control of the Supreme Court for decades. Either way, both sides are using the Supreme Court battle in fundraising appeals and other ways that underscore its political potency. Four GOP senators in competitive campaigns are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which wrapped up hearings Thursday on Barrett's nomination. That contrasts with the 2018 confirmation fight over Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of a decades-old sexual assault that he denied.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., shakes hands with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., at the close of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” Feinstein said at the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts. Trump has been able to install more than 200 judges on the federal bench and is now poised to seat his third justice on the Supreme Court. “Judiciary Committee Democrats had one goal this week: to show what’s at stake under a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court — and we did that,” Feinstein said.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Unable to block President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris used three days of confirmation hearings this week to remind voters of the stakes of the Nov. 3 election and how Democratic nominee Joe Biden would govern differently if he were in the White House. Known for her tough questioning of Trump's nominees, Harris took a lower key approach and avoided sparring matches with Republicans. Her messaging was muted in part because she appeared via video conference from her office, not the Senate hearing room, due to coronavirus concerns. “Democrats are wise not to play into their hand.”Republicans took note of the disciplined approach by Harris and the Democrats. GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who was next in line for questioning after Harris on Wednesday, asked Barrett a series of questions meant to rebut Harris.

Bidens presidential campaign says Harris will suspend in-person events until Oct. 19, after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for coronavirus. According to Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign learned late Wednesday that two people associated with the operation had tested positive for the coronavirus. And as Trump returns to aggressive campaign travel before massive, often unmasked crowds, the Biden campaign reinforced its commitment to following public health guidelines. As Biden’s campaign conducted contact tracing and made public disclosures, Trump traveled to North Carolina — where Harris was supposed to be on Thursday — for another rally. The White House has not notified reporters, Secret Service agents or Trump campaign staffers who may have been exposed during the outbreak.

Relying on a slim Senate majority, Trump's Republicans are poised to lock a 6-3 conservative court majority for years to come. A former Notre Dame Law School professor, Barrett would be the only one of her Supreme Court colleagues not groomed in the Ivy League. But Barrett is the most open opponent of abortion nominated to the Supreme Court in decades. Others testifying Thursday included Laura Wolk, the first blind woman to be a law clerk for the Supreme Court, who told senators that Barrett’s encouragement and support were life-changing. “Her brilliance is matched only by her compassion,” said Wolk, who also spent a year as a law clerk for Barrett.

Republicans played down the threat to the health law posed by the court case. “This hearing has been more about Obamacare than it has you,'' said the committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Barrett. Republicans object to the health law because “it was written and passed on a partisan line,'' Graham said. "And if we act, (voters) don’t have to worry about you doing away with preexisting conditions in some future case down the road,'' he told Barrett. ___NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAWOn another issue where Trump's views and tweets are well-known, Barrett declined to say whether a president can pardon himself.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett (all times local):6:05 p.m.Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearing has gaveled to a close for the day, wrapping up three days of testimony. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BARRETT HEARINGS:Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett was back on Capitol Hill for the third day of her confirmation hearings. The confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett paused for about 40 minutes because of audio difficulties. ___9 a.m.Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is back before the Senate Judiciary Committee to face more questions from senators at her confirmation hearing.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Over and over, Amy Coney Barrett said she’d be her own judge if confirmed to the Supreme Court. Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court to take the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg seems inevitable, as even some Senate Democrats acknowledged in Senate hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday. She called the Voting Rights Act a “triumph in the civil rights movement,” without discussing the specifics of the earlier challenge to it. The health care debate has been central to the week’s hearings, as Americans struggle during the pandemic, leading to a sharp exchange among senators at one point.

Trump finds himself locked in a close race in Iowa with Democrat Joe Biden, and Ernst is as well against Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield. Walking the tightrope between pleasing the Trump base versus attracting other voters is challenging," said John Stineman, a Iowa Republican strategist unaffiliated with the Ernst or Trump campaigns. “You have the road of the radical left,” she said while introducing Vice President Mike Pence at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in August. Trump carried Iowa by 9.4 percentage points in 2016 and Ernst surprised four-term Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley by nearly as much in 2014. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has spent $11.3 million supporting Ernst, according to Kantar.