Barrett defends her faith, says 'rule of law' would drive her judgment on Supreme Court - confirmation hearing updates

Democrats are seeking to make Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing about the Affordable Care Act, but in her first day answering questions, she had a pretty simple answer.

While she has criticized Chief Justice John Roberts’ 5-4 ruling in the original Obamacare case in 2012, the case coming before the high court next month involves a completely different issue, she said.

In 2012, the court was asked to decide if the entire law was unconstitutional. This time, it’s about whether a tax penalty that Congress eliminated in 2017 can be severed from the law, or whether that would bring down the rest of the law.

Asked if she would recuse herself from that case if she’s confirmed by the time the Supreme Court takes up the issue, she said it’s “a legal issue” that she would discuss with her colleagues, not “a question that I could answer in the abstract.”

But was she asked before being nominated if she would overturn the ACA?

“Absolutely not,” she said. “I was never asked, and if I had been, that would have been a short conversation.”