WASHINGTON (AP) — California Sen. Kamala Harris says Republicans are trying to get the Supreme Court to do their "dirty work" by installing a new justice who will overturn the Affordable Care Act.
Harris delivered her opening remarks via video Monday from her Senate office, calling the hearings "reckless" because everyone attending was not required to be tested for the coronavirus.
She warned it's not just health care that is at risk if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. She says voting rights, workers' rights, abortion rights and the very idea of equal justice are at stake.
Harris says that the court is "often the last refuge for equal justice" and that a Barrett nomination puts in jeopardy everything the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought to protect.
Harris' comments largely mirrored her messaging on the campaign trail as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. She and Joe Biden have made protecting the Affordable Care Act one of the centerpieces of their campaign.