Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is predicting Senate Republicans will have enough votes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court.
His prediction came during a Washington Post Live interview on Tuesday.
"I'm very confident," Cruz said. "I believe we have the votes. I believe we'll get it done. As I see it, we have a solid 51 votes right now. And from the conversations in the conference, I don't see that changing."
He added: "I think Judge Barrett is a very strong nominee."
The Hill noted that Cruz's comments are the latest sign that Republicans are set to move forward, even as three GOP senators have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Monday that he'll go to the Capitol "in a moon suit" to vote if he's still testing positive for the coronavirus.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to start its hearing on Monday and run through Oct. 15. Senators have the option to question Barrett remotely.
Cruz said he had asked Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., why he wasn't scheduling the hearing sooner.
"I wanted to make sure that we would have sufficient timing to get the confirmation completed before Election Day," he said. "All of the parliamentary experts we talked to felt confident that no matter what shenanigans [the Democrats] pulled that we would have sufficient time to get the job done by Election Day."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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