Sen. Cotton Says Sick Senators Will be ‘Wheeled in,’ if Needed, to Finish Supreme Court Vote: ‘The Hearing is Going Forward’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) promised Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the Senate would vote on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, even if members infected by the coronavirus need to be “wheeled in.”

“What I can say is everyone is eager to be a work when they need to be at work,” Cotton said in the Sunday interview. “Several of the senators who are in isolation right now [will] come out of isolation before those hearings begin. But the Senate Judiciary Committee has also conducted 20 hearings this year, that have either been in part or in whole virtual. Many Senate Democrats say couldn’t possibly do a virtual hearing or demanding throughout this year going back to March that all committees be conducted over Zoom or Webex or some other virtual hearing. So the hearing is going forward, no doubt in my mind.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) announced over the weekend that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the the third Senate Republican in a week to test positive for the virus, after Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Thom Tillis (NC). The outbreak has led to speculation the chamber may have to delay consideration of Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

However, Cotton said the odds of a delay were negligible, and that any members who were ill would be able to work remotely, citing Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), who both beat the virus earlier in the year, as well as former Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), who died in 2010 after a five-decade tenure in the Senate.

“I think every senator who currently tested positive or is in isolation will be back to work under normal conditions, as other senators have been as well, like Rand Paul or Tim Kaine,” Cotton said. “But if that’s not the case, Maria, there is a long and venerable tradition of ill or medically infirm senators being wheeled in to cast critical votes on the Senate floor — most recently, Robert Byrd in 2009 repeatedly rolled in in a wheelchair, just months before his death, to vote for ObamaCare. So I’m confident every senator will be in attendance when his or her vote is needed.”

Hearings for Barrett are scheduled to begin on Oct. 12, with a vote by the full Senate tentatively set to take place Oct. 26.

Watch above via Fox News.