US Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett won’t commit to recusal in Trump election cases
- Democrats grill judge on abortion, Obamacare and gun rights during lively Senate confirmation hearing
- President has said he wants full nine-member court in place for any disputes arising from contest against rival Joe Biden
US Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett batted back Democrats’ sceptical questions on abortion, gun rights and election disputes in lively Senate confirmation testimony on Tuesday, insisting she would bring no personal agenda to the court but would decide cases as they come.
The 48-year-old appellate court judge declared her conservative views with often colloquial language, but refused many specifics.
She declined to say whether she would recuse herself from any election-related cases involving President Donald Trump, who nominated her to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and is pressing to have her confirmed before the November 3 election.
“Judges can’t just wake up one day and say I have an agenda – I like guns, I hate guns, I like abortion, I hate abortion – and walk in like a royal queen and impose their will on the world,” Barrett told the Senate Judiciary Committee during the second day of hearings.
“It’s not the law of Amy,” she said later. “It’s the law of the American people.”
Trump has said he wants a full nine-member court in place for any disputes arising from the heated election with Democrat Joe Biden. Barret testified she has not spoken to Trump or his team about that, saying to do so would be a “gross violation” of judicial independence. Pressed by panel Democrats, she declined to commit to recusing herself from post-election cases.