JUDY WOODRUFF: And we turn now to our own Lisa Desjardins and "NewsHour" regular Marcia
Coyle of "The National Law Journal."
So, Lisa, the questions are over for members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
You have been talking to some of the senators. What are they saying to you about how they
think this went?
LISA DESJARDINS: There is some remarkable agreement from both parties about Judge Barrett's
performance.
Democrats will admit to you, if they -- you talk to them without using their name, that
she was a strong witness, a strong conferee, that she was not someone who could be rattled.
And I think that is one reason that Democrats chose not to have a third round of questions,
which was their right, instead ending the question period tonight,
Republicans feel like she was their ideal witness, a great Supreme Court justice, they
see, but they also like that she can appeal to a very important group of swing voters,
Catholic women, especially Catholic mothers. They're hoping that perhaps that this is a
reach out to them this election.
Also, the parties agree that this was a better tone overall for a Supreme Court confirmation
hearing.
Where they disagree, Judy, no surprise, what this means. Democrats have come to cameras,
spoken to the mics, a few minutes ago, Dick Durbin saying he is fearful about -- that
Judge Barrett, he is convinced, will try to overturn some very important precedents, especially
about health care, including the Affordable Care Act and perhaps regarding abortion.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Marcia, I mean, picking up on some of that, the contrast between this
hearing and previous hearings, especially for Justice Kavanaugh, what -- expand on how
different they were and how much that matters.
MARCIA COYLE, "The National Law Journal": Well, they were certainly very different,
because they're very different candidates -- nominees
Justice -- I think the only similarities that they really have between the two of them is
that they have very conservative records on the federal appellate court. And -- I'm sorry
-- they have very conservative records as judges on the federal appellate court.
And they're -- they also are similar in the fact that they both declined to answer many
specific questions about specific cases and issues that could come before the court.
In terms of their actual confirmation hearings, they were like night and day. Judge Kavanaugh
-- Justice Kavanaugh's hearing was very contentious, even before the sexual assault allegation
was made against him. He had a career of 12 years on the federal appellate court. And
prior to that, he had a very political legal career.
He worked in the independent counsel's office that was investigating President Clinton.
He helped prepare the report that went to the House for impeachment of Clinton. And
then he moved on to the White House when George W. Bush was elected president, whereas Judge
Barrett has been on the appellate court not quite three years, and has spent the bulk
of her life in academia, as a law professor at Notre Dame.
So, in terms of the hearings, her hearing has been, as Lisa just reported, very civil,
very calm, and some very good exchanges on her judicial philosophy. But, with then candidate
-- nominee Judge Kavanaugh, it was extremely contentious.
And, as I said, it was contentious even before the sexual assault allegations, because a
number of the Senate Democrats on the committee had had experience when he was first nominated
to that court, and his nomination did not go through. They felt that he had not been
fully truthful with them.
When he came up again for the Supreme Court, he had a lot of documents that the Senate
Democrats felt they did not get access to or they got access to much too late in order
to really review them. So, those hearings got off to a very bad start. That was not
the case with Judge Barrett, obviously.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes, very clearly not.
Lisa, back to you.
The Republicans have made it very clear, Chairman Lindsey Graham, they want to get this train
moving down the track. They are anxious to hold a vote. You and I have talked about this
before, but is there anything Democrats can do to slow down, to stop what looks to be
inevitable?
LISA DESJARDINS: I think the only thing Democrats could do might slow it down for a matter of
minutes, not days, as they would want.
Democrats could have a choice to try and withhold quorum for a meeting tomorrow. I don't know
if they will do that.
But, Judy, all of that process might not matter. Right now, this vote -- we talk to Democrats
and Republicans -- looks likely in the committee next week. The judge has the votes. And then,
the following week, the week before the election, is when we expect the full Senate to vote
on her nomination.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All right.
Lisa Desjardins watching it all day long, along with Marcia Coyle, thank you both.