He might be on the taxpayers’ dime, however U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) is apparently spending his time campaigning for reelection during business hours.
In a Facebook livestream on Wednesday, Jones was asked for his reaction to Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week; with the question and answer portion of proceedings ending Wednesday afternoon, the nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States could be advanced by the committee as soon as Thursday, however there will likely be a week-long delay due to an expected procedural maneuver by Democrats.
“I have not watched the hearing,” Jones admitted. “I’m in the middle of a campaign. I have not watched the hearings, and I left D.C. when we were there.”
As reported by Yellowhammer News, Jones in summer 2019 committed to opposing any SCOTUS nominations made by Trump in the final year of his term.
Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last month, Jones announced his opposition to anyone Trump nominated, regardless of merits, before Barrett was even announced as the nominee.
Moreover, Jones has failed to even meet with Barrett — a pattern for Alabama’s junior senator, who also never met with now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh before his Senate Judiciary hearings and ultimate confirmation. In contrast, many of Jones’ Democratic colleagues have given Barrett the courtesy of a meeting — even some of those who have already announced their intent to vote “no.”
Alabama’s junior senator on Wednesday emphasized, “I have made my position pretty clear.”
Jones subsequently claimed that he would be open to actually fulfilling his duty to provide advice and consent should the confirmation get postponed until after November 3 and should Trump get reelected.
“I will be more than happy to meet [with Barrett], I’ll be more than happy to review [the nominee’s qualifications],” Jones said of that unlikely hypothetical scenario.
“But I’m in the middle of campaigning right now,” he reiterated, “and I know, at this point, my vote is going to be a ‘no’ vote. And I don’t apologize for that.”
RELATED: ALGOP chair: Doug Jones ‘has embarrassed our state and shirked one of his most important duties’
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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