WASHINGTON, DC – Judge Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 52-48 Senate vote yesterday evening (October 26th) in a near party-line vote, with only Republican Senator Susan Collins crossing lines to join with all the Democrats in voting against her confirmation. Barrett was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas at an event on the South Lawn of the White House before some 200 people. In her remarks, Barrett said she’d vote independently, including of her own policy preferences, and would do her job, quote, “without fear or favor.” Senator Bob Casey was a no vote. Senator Pat Toomey was a yes vote. Toomey noted, “I was proud to join my colleagues in confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court today. Judge Barrett clearly has the intelligence, experience, and character needed to serve on our nation’s highest court. Given she is a working mother with school-aged children, she will bring to the Supreme Court a background that will add to its diversity.
“Most importantly, Judge Barrett has shown a deep commitment to the proper role of a federal judge in our constitutional system. She understands that a judge must act as a neutral umpire who applies the law, including the U.S. Constitution, as written, not as an unelected super legislator who decides cases based on her preferred policy outcome.”
Congressman John Joyce remarked “Justice Amy Coney Barrett is an exceptional and supremely-qualified jurist who has proven before the American people that she will uphold the U.S. Constitution and interpret the law as it is written. I thank Justice Barrett for her willingness to serve our nation on its highest court, and I thank President Donald Trump for delivering on his promise to nominate principled originalist justices to the Supreme Court.”
(photo credit The Statesman)
