Fact check: Claim noting time between CARES Act and Barrett confirmation is true

Emily Hopkins, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: The Senate confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a fraction of the time Congress has been negotiating a second coronavirus relief bill.

On Oct. 29, Twitter user Francis Maxwell tweeted a claim that it took only 38 days to confirm a new Supreme Court justice after Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, but it has been 217 days since the Senate last passed a coronavirus relief package.

Maxwell then points out the Senate was adjourned until after the election.

A screenshot of the tweet has been shared to the Occupy Democrats Facebook page and has been shared more than 2,000 times.

How does this timeline match up with reality?

More: Fact check: There is no Sen. Rob Donaldson, so posts of his speech about Barrett are fake

CARES Act in March, Barrett in October

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Sept. 18. Just over a week later, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg on the court.

Senate Republicans worked at breakneck speed to confirm Barrett on Oct. 26, just 38 days after Ginsburg death, truncating a process that historically takes about 10 weeks, according to USA TODAY’s David Jackson and Richard Wolf.

The nomination and confirmation took place against the backdrop of repeatedly stalled negotiations over a second coronavirus aid package.

Congress has so far failed to produce a follow up to the CARES Act. Passed by the Senate on March 25 and signed into law days later, the $2 trillion package provided a variety of aid, such as direct payments to Americans, enhanced unemployment benefits and assistance to small businesses to keep employees on the payroll.

Maxwell may have been a day off — at the time of his tweet, it had been 218 days since the Senate passed the CARES Act.

Following Barrett’s confirmation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., adjourned Senate proceedings until Nov. 9, almost a week after the presidential election.

Our ruling: True

Based on our research, Maxwell’s post comparing the timeline of Barrett’s confirmation and Congress’s ongoing negotiations related to coronavirus aid is TRUE. That small mathematical error notwithstanding, the tweet accurately characterizes the amount of time since the Senate has passed a coronavirus aid package compared to the time it took to confirm Justice Ginsburg’s replacement to the court.

Our fact-checking sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Over 200 days between CARES Act, Barrett confirmation