Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said he hopes the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett will focus on her legal opinions rather than her religious beliefs.
“Millions of Americans rely on our faith to guide us, to give us a framework in which we raise our children and live our lives, a community of meaning and of depth,” the Democrat told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “Religious faith should not be at issue here. There isn’t a religious test for service in the government, whether it is in the Senate or on the Supreme Court.”
Barrett’s Catholic faith was litigated during confirmation hearings in 2017 before she was confirmed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. At the time, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, outraged conservatives when she told Barrett that “the dogma lives loudly in you, and that is of concern.” Coons said the Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member, should focus on Barrett’s legal opinions during the Supreme Court confirmation process that begins next month.
“What should be raised is her opinions, her speeches, her public statements as a professor and a judge, and whether or not she will uphold precedent,” Coons said, later adding, “It is appropriate for us to question her statements, her opinions, her actions as a professor and judge, but not to go into questions of doctrine or faith personally.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is also a Catholic, offered a similar message on Sunday, saying that Barrett’s views on the Constitution and not her faith should be the focus of senators.
