Barrett was pressed for her views on the precedent set in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut, which protects the right to buy and use contraception for married couples, where she declined to answer and suggested the inquiry was irrelevant. 

"I would be surprised if people were afraid birth control was going to be criminalized," Barrett told Blumenthal. 

As for how she would have ruled had she been on the high court at the time the case was decided, she said, "I can't give a yes or no answer."

Coons had asked Barrett about the case earlier in the day, and she wouldn't say whether she thought it was correctly decided.

"I think Griswold isn't going anywhere unless you plan to pass a law prohibiting couples or all people from using birth control ... It seems unthinkable that any legislature would pass such a law," Barrett told Coons. 

The hearing was paused for a second time after a technical problem made microphones stop working. 

The Barrett hearing has resumed following an unscheduled almost 40-minute break after technicians solved a sound issue that deadened the microphones. 

The sound cut out shortly after Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., had begun questioning the judge. 

"Sorry about the interruption," Judiciary Chair Sen. Lindsey Graham said as the hearing resumed.

Senators spent the break milling around the hearing room and chatting in their masks until the sound issue was resolved. Barrett spent some of the time in a separate holding room.  

Graham called a 10-minute break at Barrett's hearing after her microphone went dead while she was being questioned by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

The problem also seemed to strike all the senators, leading Graham to jokingly call out that "the Russians" were responsible. He called a recess while they try to fix the problem.

Hawley was making a reference to Democrats' attacks on Judge Robert Bork, which ultimately torpedoed his 1987 Supreme Court nomination.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked Barrett a "hypothetical" question about whether a vice president's son who "sold access" to his father who took action on his case would constitute "foreign corruption." 

Hawley said "I think it's only fair that I ask, hypothetically speaking, just hypothetically" about the case, a clear reference to debunked allegations against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son.

"I can't answer hypotheticals," Barrett said. 

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked Barrett about the case Griswold v. Connecticut, which protects the right to buy and use contraception for married couples, and whether it was correctly decided. 

Barrett declined to answer the question, saying that she can't express a view on that issue just as she hasn't on a number of other cases. 

"I think Griswold isn't going anywhere unless you plan to pass a law prohibiting couples or all people from using birth control... It seems unthinkable that any legislature would pass such a law," Barrett added. 

States have considered laws to limit access to emergency contraceptives like Plan B. 

During Sasse's line of questioning, he began talking about the Houston Astros and called the major league team "miserable cheaters" because he said "they steal signs." 

"They've done a whole bunch of miserable things historically and they deserve to be punished probably more than they had been," Sasse said. 

Texas Sen. John Cornyn interjected, "Thank goodness the First Amendment protects that erroneous opinion." 

 Cruz then said that he was tempted to make a parliamentary inquiry in the "unjustified broadside from the senator from Nebraska" and whether it violates a committee rule. 

"I decided not to when I came to the realization that Nebraska lacks a professional baseball team," Cruz said, describing the attack as a "cry for help" while criticizing the state's college football team.