As if the 2020 presidential campaign wasn’t already tense enough, we now have a high-profile Supreme Court confirmation fight playing out in the Senate.

Asked about the high court at Tuesday night’s presidential debate — I guess we could technically call what happened Tuesday night in Cleveland a debate — President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged there is a lot at stake.

Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is already meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, and Republicans in charge of the proceedings are aiming to confirm her before Election Day.

And, because it is 2020, things will look and play out differently during the confirmation debate. Joining us on this episode of Political Theater are CQ Roll Call senior writer Todd Ruger, who covers the judiciary and legal affairs, and staff writer Katherine Tully McManus, who covers congressional leaders and was witness to the beginning of what promises to a be a short, strange trip for the Senate.

Show Notes:

• Courtesy calls in the time of COVID-19: No handshakes, no Sherpa
• Judiciary Committee to collide with campaign trail for Supreme Court fight
• Debate fact-check: False claims amid disorderly fracas
• Kurt Bardella on why The Lincoln Project is targeting the GOP
• Can firing up the partisan base backfire in Alaska?
• Battle over Ginsburg successor could add a charge to Texas Senate race
• Democrats keep edge in fight for Senate amid growing GOP headache
• Democratic House challenger invokes Ginsburg in new campaign ad
• Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death is unlikely to shake up the presidential race
• At the Races: Supreme politics
• Political Theater Podcast archives