华盛顿——周六，最高法院提名人艾米·科尼·巴雷特赢得了至关重要的支持，他是最后几个反对在选举中填补席位的共和党人之一选举季宣布支持总统唐纳德·特朗普预计周一将进行确认投票。

阿拉斯加州参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基在罕见的周末参议院会议上宣布支持巴雷特，共和党人正争取在选举日之前确认巴雷特。尽管民主党人反对11月3日的白宫获胜者应该选择填补已故大法官鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格的席位，但参议员们将于周日继续努力。

巴雷特的提名似乎已经有足够的票数得到在众议院占多数的参议院共和党人的确认。但是穆尔科斯基的点头给了她更大的支持。只有一名共和党人，缅因州的参议员苏珊·科林斯，预计将投票反对这位保守派法官。

“虽然我反对导致我们走到这一步的过程，但我并不反对她，”穆尔科斯基说。

快速确认过程是美国历史上最接近总统的过程选举。民主党称之为“骗局”，并设置了程序障碍来减缓这一进程。但少数派政党没有现实的机会阻止巴雷特的确认，这将在未来几年锁定6-3的保守法院多数席位。

参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。他注意到了政治上的敌意，但为自己对这一过程的处理进行了辩护。

麦康奈尔说:“我们最近的辩论一直很激烈，但奇怪的是，巴雷特法官的实际资历或资格几乎没有被提及。”。他称她为“一代人”中最“令人印象深刻”的公职提名者之一

纽约的民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)警告共和党人，消除他们行动“污点”的唯一方法是“在选举结束前撤回对艾米·科尼·巴雷特(Amy Coney Barrett)的提名”。

随着美国经历新冠肺炎案件的激增，民主党人几次试图迫使参议院搁置周六的司法斗争，转而考虑冠状病毒救济立法，包括众议院通过的英雄法案，该法案将向学校、医院和失业救济金注入资金，并提供其他援助，但都没有成功。

大多数共和党人拒绝了这些努力，并保持巴雷特的确认在正轨上。

48岁的巴雷特在参议院司法委员会公开作证时，作为堕胎、平价医疗法案和总统权力案件的中立仲裁者，这些问题很快就要提交给法院。她一度建议说，“这不是艾米的法则。”

但是巴雷特过去反对堕胎的文章和对奥巴马时代医疗保健法的裁决显示了一个非常保守的思想家。

特朗普本周表示，他希望最高法院在11月10日大法官接受挑战时撤销卫生法。

特朗普就任总统之初，麦康奈尔策划了参议院规则的改变，允许100名参议员中的大多数人确认，而不是传统上需要60票的门槛来推动高等法院提名人反对。以53-47的共和党多数，巴雷特的确认几乎是肯定的。

穆尔科斯基指出，她不相信在“一场激烈的总统选举——当党派紧张局势达到最高点——前一周向前迈进，我不认为这将有助于我们的国家成为更好的自己。”

但她说，“我已经输掉了那场程序性的斗争。”她说，她将在未来几天投票反对程序性步骤，但最终将与共和党人一起确认巴雷特。

柯林斯在缅因州面临着艰难的连任，她现在是唯一一个在离选举如此之近的时候表示不会投票给提名人的共和党人。

参议院司法委员会(Senate Judiciary Committee)主席、参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)承认诉讼程序的党派性质，但他表示，如果参议院未能确认他所说的某个人是如此出色的候选人，他就无法忍受自己。皇家莎士比亚剧团的格雷厄姆称巴雷特是保守女性和持有强烈宗教信仰的人的“榜样”。

特朗普和他的共和党盟友在距离11月3日的选举如此之近的时候推动巴雷特升职，他们指望竞选活动得到推动，就像他们认为麦康奈尔在2016年2月拒绝允许参议院考虑巴拉克·奥巴马总统的提名一样，在保守派和福音派基督徒中为特朗普制造了兴奋，他们渴望共和党总统在安东宁·斯卡利亚法官去世后获得提名。

2017年，特朗普提名巴雷特为上诉法院院长时，她是圣母院法学院的教授。当时有两名民主党人加入进来确认她，但预计未来几天没有人会投票给她。

——

美联社记者梅格·金纳德在南卡罗莱纳州哥伦比亚报道，贝基·博勒在阿拉斯加州朱诺报道。

Murkowski's nod gives Barrett extra boost for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett won crucial backing Saturday when one of the last Republican holdouts against filling the seat during an election season announced support for President Donald Trump's pick ahead of a confirmation vote expected Monday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, declared her support during a rare weekend Senate session as Republicans race to confirm Barrett before Election Day. Senators are set Sunday to push ahead, despite Democratic objections that the winner of the White House on Nov. 3 should make the choice to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Barrett's nomination already appeared to have enough votes for confirmation from Senate Republicans who hold the majority in the chamber. But Murkowski's nod gives her a boost of support. Only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, is now expected to vote against the conservative judge.

“While I oppose the process that has led us to this point, I do not hold it against her,” Murkowski said.

The fast-track confirmation process is like none other in U.S. history so close to a presidential election. Calling it a “sham,” Democrats mounted procedural hurdles to slow it down. But the minority party has no realistic chance of stopping Barrett’s confirmation, which is set to lock a 6-3 conservative court majority for years to come.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., noted the political rancor, but defended his handling of the process.

“Our recent debates have been heated, but curiously talk of Judge Barrett’s actual credentials or qualifications are hardly featured,” McConnell said. He called her one of the most “impressive” nominees for public office “in a generation.”

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans the only way to remove the “stain” of their action would be to “withdraw the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett until after the election.”

With the nation experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases, Democrats made several unsuccessful attempts to force the Senate to set aside the judicial fight Saturday and instead consider coronavirus relief legislation, including the House-passed Heroes Act that would pump money into schools, hospitals and jobless benefits and provide other aid.

Majority Republicans turned aside those efforts and kept Barrett's confirmation on track.

Barrett, 48, presented herself in public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a neutral arbiter of cases on abortion, the Affordable Care Act and presidential power — issues soon confronting the court. At one point she suggested, “It's not the law of Amy.”

But Barrett's past writings against abortion and a ruling on the Obama-era health care law show a deeply conservative thinker.

Trump said this week he is hopeful the Supreme Court will undo the health law when the justices take up a challenge Nov. 10.

At the start of Trump's presidency, McConnell engineered a Senate rules change to allow confirmation by a majority of the 100 senators, rather than the 60-vote threshold traditionally needed to advance high court nominees over objections. With a 53-47 GOP majority, Barrett’s confirmation is almost certain.

Murkowksi noted said she doesn’t believe moving forward a week before "a pitched presidential election — when partisan tensions are running about as high as they could — I don’t think this will help our country become a better version of itself.”

But she said, ”I’ve lost that procedural fight.” She said she will vote against the procedural steps in the days ahead, but ultimately join Republicans in confirming Barrett.

Collins, who faces a tight reelection in Maine, is now the only Republican who has said she won't vote for the nominee so close to the election.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, acknowledged the partisan nature of the proceedings, but said he could not live with himself if the Senate failed to confirm someone he said was such an exceptional nominee. Graham, R-S.C., called Barrett a “role model” for conservative women and for people strongly held religious beliefs.

By pushing for Barrett's ascension so close to the Nov. 3 election, Trump and his Republican allies are counting on a campaign boost, in much the way they believe McConnell's refusal to allow the Senate to consider President Barack Obama's nominee in February 2016 created excitement for Trump among conservatives and evangelical Christians eager for the Republican president to make that nomination after Justice Antonin Scalia's death.

Barrett was a professor at Notre Dame Law School when she was tapped by Trump in 2017 for an appeals court opening. Two Democrats joined at that time to confirm her, but none is expected to vote for her in the days ahead.

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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska contributed to this report.