Amy Coney Barrett Raises Alarm After Refusing To Say If Trump Can Delay The Election (He Can’t)

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett refused to give a clear response to an easy and straight-forward question during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) if “the Constitution gives the president of the United States the authority to unilaterally delay an election under any circumstances,” Barrett punted.

“Well, Senator, if that question ever came before me, I’d need to hear arguments from the litigants and read briefs and consult with my law clerks and talk to my colleagues and go through the opinion-writing process,” she said.

“So, you know, if I give off the cuff answers, then I would be basically a legal pundit, and I don’t think we want judges to be legal pundits,” she added. “I think we want judges to approach cases thoughtfully and with an open mind.”

Amy Coney Barrett won't answer Feinstein's questions about whether she thinks Roe was wrongly decided pic.twitter.com/kgSQ3rckux

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 13, 2020

But there’s really no need for “an open mind” when it comes to questions about whether Trump or any other president can delay the election, because the law is crystal clear on this matter: The president doesn’t have this power.

The only way the date of the election could be changed would be through an act of Congress — and there’s no way that the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives would go along with that.

Today, Judge Barret refused to answer @SenFeinstein's question on whether the President can delay the election. It is exactly because of this kind of political equivocation that I introduced my resolution confirming the election will be held on Nov 3rd. https://t.co/GeQnJrRCt0 pic.twitter.com/IVHovrrjSv

— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) October 13, 2020