WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement criticizing the Republican-controlled Senate’s confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court:

“Tonight’s vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court justice is a disgrace, not only because of what she will do when she gets on the bench, but because of the entire process, which was pushed through with extraordinary hypocrisy by Senate Republicans in the last days of a president’s term.

“At this particular moment, over 50 million people have already cast their ballots to determine who the next President of the United States should be. Now is not the time to be voting on a Supreme Court justice. What we should be voting on instead is a major Covid-19 stimulus package to protect the working people of this country, who, by the tens of millions, have lost their jobs. They’re struggling right now to pay their rent, get health insurance, and put food on the table to feed their kids. 

“That is the issue we should be dealing with right now, and I am committed to ensuring that the next U.S. Senate, under Democratic leadership, will make a major Covid-19 stimulus bill the first order of priority.”

Watch Sanders’ remarks on his vote against Barrett’s confirmation here.