House Majority Leader Hoyer Statement on Senate SCOTUS Confirmation Vote

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 -- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, issued the following statement on Oct. 26:

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House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) released the following statement tonight after the Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States:

"After refusing on principle even to hold hearings for President Obama's nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy with nearly eight months before the 2016 election, Senate Republicans today rushed through the confirmation of President Trump's nominee only eight days before an election he is on track to lose.

"The reason they did so is clear: to stack the Supreme Court with a conservative majority bent on overturning the Affordable Care Act, undermining women's reproductive rights, and further eroding Americans' right to vote. Asked how he believes the Court should rule in the Republican lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act, President Trump was crystal clear, saying: 'I hope they end it.'

"That would finally achieve Republicans' goal of eliminating every benefit under that law, including protections for those with pre-existing conditions, an end to annual and lifetime caps on coverage, and reforms that enabled more than 20 million Americans to get insured.

"Surely, Americans will see Senate Republicans' confirmation gambit for what it is: a shameless attempt to rig the highest court in our land against the American people, just as they have done to every other court in our judiciary over the past four years. Now we shall see what the people will do in response, and whether Republicans will be able to hold on to a tenuous Senate Majority that has been standing in the way of Americans' aspirations for justice, opportunity, and progress. I believe that Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans will look back on events leading to this day and eventually see them for what they truly are: a dangerous mistake."