With the recent nomination of Seventh Circuit Court Appellate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States by President Donald Trump, all eyes turned to the Senate confirmation process that began yesterday. This first step in the U.S. Senate process is a confirmation hearing in the Committee on the Judiciary. This hearing will give U.S. senators on the powerful committee the chance to ask Judge Barrett serious questions about her judicial philosophy, prior rulings, and even prior public statements or writings. Anything that Judge Barrett has written or said over the course of her legal and teaching career will come under intense scrutiny as the handful of senators publicly vet the nominee.
Judge Barrett faces intense opposition from Democratic Senators, including Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, and many others who have already pledged to vote against her. Additionally, pro-abortion Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine stated she will vote against Judge Barrett because the nomination is too close to the presidential election. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska made similar remarks but walked back her statement later. Even with these two Republican no votes, the U.S. Senate is poised to confirm Judge Barrett before November 3.
The highest hurdle for confirmation that Republicans will face are the hearings and vote in the Judiciary Committee. With only 22 Senators on the Committee (12 Republicans, 10 Democrats), most states are not represented on the decisive committee. Texans, however, are in a rare position of having both our Senators, Cruz and Cornyn, on the committee. Senator Ted Cruz himself places the utmost importance on the actual words of the Constitution. Given the role the Supreme Court has played recently in interpreting our central liberties as Americans, Senator Cruz has already vetted and fully endorsed Judge Barrett because of her allegiance to the plain meaning of the Constitution.
Judge Barrett has a long few weeks ahead of her in the U.S. Senate’s confirmation process in which Texas Senators Cruz and Cornyn will have an outsized role. Conservative and Pro-Life Texans have a responsibility to watch this process closely and urge our U.S. Senators to fully use their authority and key positions to ensure this nominee of immense integrity and judicial restraint is confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States.