Barrett repeats promise to keep an open mind

Democratic senators pressed President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee about how much her originalist views mirror those of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whom she once served as a clerk. Judge Amy Coney Barrett insisted she would “have an open mind” in approaching cases and defended her respect for Supreme Court precedent during the final day of her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham indicated the full committee vote would be next Thursday.

What hot button issues came up? Democrats circled back to the Affordable Care Act, with Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois characterizing her appointment as part of Trump’s agenda to dismantle the healthcare law. Barrett declined to say whether a president could pardon himself, but told Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., “No one is above the law.”

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s analysis of the confirmation hearing.