Senators React to Amy Coney Barrett’s Nomination: An ‘Excellent Nominee’ Who Will ‘Safeguard Our Religious Liberties’

Amy Coney Barrett teaching a class at Notre Dame Law School. (Photo Courtesy of the Univer
Photo courtesy of the University of Notre Dame

GOP senators praised President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, calling her an “excellent” and “outstanding” nominee who will “safeguard our religious liberties.”

President Trump formally nominated Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday evening.

“I love the United States and I love the United States Constitution,” she said after President Trump introduced her.

GOP senators quickly offered high praise for the president’s selection:

“Amy Coney Barrett is a respected constitutionalist and an excellent nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Much like her mentor, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, she will be a textualist and originalist devoted to upholding the rule of law,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said in a statement, describing Barrett as a “jurist we can trust to safeguard our religious liberties at a time when these freedoms are increasingly under attack.”

“Americans saw firsthand Judge Barrett’s commitment to her values and principles during her confirmation hearing for the U.S Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in 2017. Since taking the bench, she has authored nearly 100 opinions,” Blackburn continued.

“Beyond her experience on the bench, Judge Barrett is a mother of seven with an impressive legal career. After graduating from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, she received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School, where she is now a professor,” she said, adding that she looks forward to hearing the nominee’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. David Purdue (R-GA) described Barrett as “an outstanding choice to serve on our nation’s highest court” who has remained an “ardent defender of the Constitution and steadfast supporter of the rule of law.”

Like Blackburn, Purdue referred to Barrett’s experience with the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

“Having clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, Judge Barrett understands the importance of protecting our nation’s founding principles,” he said.

“The Senate will now move with due haste to consider Judge Barrett’s nomination. This is about more than one seat. This is about saving our Republic by maintaining the balance of power between our three branches of government,” he added.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) also pointed to Barrett’s background as a former clerk to Scalia. She said:

I am so proud to support Amy Coney Barrett as President Trump’s nominee for associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. With her background as a former clerk to the late Justice Scalia and an originalist, Judge Barrett will protect individual liberties including the right to life, the Second Amendment and religious liberties by ensuring the Constitution, and our laws, are applied as written.

Loeffler warned that the left will target Barrett and “come after” her “with everything they have” but expressed confidence that she will power through.

“But as someone who has stood up to the radical left’s cancel culture and won, my advice for a fellow strong conservative woman is this: Keep going, keep pushing, keep fighting, and keep winning,” she said.

“Our Constitution, the right to life and the future of our country are all worth fighting for. My Republican colleagues and I will have your back, and we will confirm you as the next female United States Supreme Court associate justice,” Loeffler vowed.

Like his Republican colleagues, Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) applauded the nomination, emphasizing his belief in “selecting candidates who respect the separation of powers and the proper role of the judiciary in our democratic system.”

“Their job isn’t to make policy – it is to uphold the rule of law,” he said, adding that Barrett “respects the separate roles of our three branches of government and will apply and follow the law as written, not legislate from the bench.”

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) praised Barrett as an “outstanding judge and an even better person” and noted the “unfair attacks on her religious faith and judicial philosophy during her previous confirmation process.”

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