UPDATE: Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate confirmation hearings begin

The Senate began its confirmation hearings this morning for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Just yesterday, the nonpartisan American Bar Association (ABA) gave Judge Barrett its highest rating of “well qualified” in a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Democrats have called the ABA the “gold standard” in rating judicial nominees.

Judge Barrett’s outstanding record makes her the perfect candidate for the Court:

She graduated top of her class from Notre Dame Law School and clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
She has extensive experience across private practice, academia, and public service, including 3 years on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
She has earned widespread bipartisan respect, such as when every full-time member of Notre Dame Law School faculty wrote in support of her confirmation to the Circuit Court in 2017. She has taught at the law school since 2002.
As a mother of 7, Judge Barrett would bring an important perspective as the first mother of school-aged children ever to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most important, as a federal judge, Barrett has already worked faithfully to uphold our Constitution as written. “Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold,” Judge Barrett said upon accepting President Trump’s nomination for the Court last month.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised Judge Barrett’s exceptional qualifications during his opening statement this morning.

“I would like the world and the country to know more about Judge Barrett,” he said. “I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished. I think you’re a great choice by the President.”

President Trump was clear about why he chose Judge Barrett for this moment. “To maintain security, liberty, and prosperity, we must preserve our priceless heritage of a nation of laws,” he said. “And there is no one better to do that than Amy Coney Barrett.”