GOP Senators react to Judge Barrett confirmation at presser

will open the door for other women to realize there is a seat at the table for them not only is this a great day for every little girl in America this is a great day for America Amy coney Barrett is a class act she has always found her place in this world tonight she has found her place exactly where she needs to be she has the temperament of exactly what we need she is a brilliant woman full of grace she is the mother that I wished every child had today god really smiled on us and he gave us amazing grace you know voting for judge amy coney bear to become an associate justice on the supreme court

confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh

it was not just historic for me it was my obligation to the people of North Dakota as well as a high personal honor you know just over two years ago i was engaged in another historic fight a battle for the seat that i now hold when late in the campaign the democratic incumbent i was running against chose to engage in the smear campaign against another outstanding American jurist and decided to vote against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh well that week that very week my opponent raised nearly three times more money than i spent in the entire campaign that week the supreme court became the number one issue in the race so to somehow suggest there’s no way no way i would or could suggest that this vote would be delayed because to do so to somehow wait until after the election when people from someplace other than north dakota might be tempted to elect a president other than other than donald trump to nominate a jurist other than well let’s just say the nearly perfect amy coney barrett to be a supreme court justice would rightly anger

the people of north dakota and do great damage to my conscience this is a great night well it’s a great day for Indiana and a great day for america i was proud to cast my vote with great enthusiasm for judge amy coney Barrett to serve as associate justice of the supreme court this has been a long process for america but a fairly short process with respect to procedure it’s been a long process because there’s been great efforts made by senate democrats to try and pull amy coney barrett into the political fray but she resisted those efforts time and again demonstrating that she intends to follow the law as written in the constitution of the united states we won republicans won america won because amy comey barrett demonstrated that she intends to follow the law she is a faithful constitutionalist and

Associate justice of the supreme court

we couldn’t be more proud in the great state of indiana one of our own in just a short period of time will be sworn in as an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states uh it’s such an honor to represent kansans in the united states senate uh something i never would have dreamed of in my life and it’s such a privilege to be here at a time in which amy coney barrett deserved my vote received my vote as she becomes an associate justice of the united states supreme court it’s a privilege because uh rarely in fact i would say this is the the most impressive individual that i’ve had the opportunity to vote for to go through a confirmation process with uh and it is the privilege of allowing someone to ascend to the united states supreme court who shares the the belief that the constitution is written is the law of the land not there to legislate only there to be a jurist and i’m also pleased that she’s from the midwest that she has that midwest background and i look forward to her faithful service to the american people but more importantly to the constitution of the united states

judiciary committee members

i wish her well it was a privilege to support her and congratulations to amy conan barrett this evening well i have to say this was probably the uh the easiest whip we’ve ever had it’s just because we had a great story to tell uh we had a great nominee who uh was her own best representative when it came to convincing not only the judiciary committee the united states senate but the american people that she is the right person to be the next supreme court justice of the united states and so i’m grateful we got a number of judiciary committee members or we did have here we still have one here uh for the great work that they did in preparing for this and i will tell you that like some of my colleagues who came before me this is kind of what we come here for and in fact my way to the senate was paved by the unprecedented schumer filibuster of appellate court judges back in the early 2000s that was something that at the time became a major issue around the country it was probably the principal issue in my campaign for the united states senate and so it’s especially gratifying to be able to be here this evening and to have yet another opportunity to put a very well qualified constitutionalists on the supreme court of the united states so i like my colleagues join in congratulating amy coney barrett as the new associate justice on the supreme court before coming to the united states senate

I served as the governor of North Dakota for 10 years and in that time i had the opportunity to appoint a lot of judges I think I appointed on the order of a dozen judges many to the state district courts but also to the state supreme court and of course the first thing I always look for was judicial temperament and there’s no question that amy coney Barrett has judicial temperament I don’t think anyone can argue that but the other thing i always look for is a judge that would enforce the constitution and enforce the law somebody who is a strict constructionist who would uphold the constitution not legislate from the bench and again amy coney judge Barrett has demonstrated not only an incredible knowledge and understanding of the constitution and the law but she has demonstrated very clearly that she will uphold the constitution and the law as is her duty on

north Dakota

the supreme court and that’s what’s best for my state of north Dakota that’s what’s best for our great nation and so i congratulate her and wish her the absolute best today is an important victory for the united states constitution today president donald trump delivered on one of the central promises he made to the american people to nominate principled constitutionalists to the u.s supreme court today the republican majority in the united states senate delivered on one of the principal promises we made to the American people to confirm principled constitutionalists to u.s supreme court to everyone who values and cherishes the constitution and bill of rights today was an important milestone to everyone

who wants to see our rights of free speech the right to engage without censorship without the government silencing you today was an important victory to everyone who cherishes religious liberty the first liberty protected in the first clause of the first amendment of the bill of rights the right to live according to your faith and your conscience without government getting in the way today was an important victory to everyone who values the second amendment right to keep and bear arms the fundamental right to protect your home and your family and your life today was an important victory

the American people want principled constitutionalists on the united states supreme court and today we have cause to celebrate that judge Amy coney Barrett is now justice Amy coney Barrett Amy coney Barrett earned her elevation to the highest court tonight’s a great night for her but it’s also a great night for our country for my state of Ohio and for so many who saw her in action over the past several weeks during this confirmation process she earned her elevation through sacrifice to her family her friends through hard work and through a distinguished legal career both as a teacher where she won plaudits from across the political and judicial philosophical spectrum through her distinguished career on the seventh circuit where for almost three years now

Bipartisan majority

she has shown all of us here in the senate that we did the right thing almost three years ago in confirming her for that post by a bipartisan majority she earned the right to be elevated to the highest court tonight I’m disappointed that she didn’t once again get a bipartisan majority but i will say as the people of Ohio and the people of the united states of America looked at her and watched her in action in the hearings they too believed that she deserved this elevation a majority of Americans supported the vote we took tonight because despite all the attacks on her and the process they realize that she has earned this right and that she will make them proud as a justice of the united states supreme court I think she has a role to play and we talked about this in our conversation

last week to help us ensure that the faith in the supreme court by the American people is strengthened I think that great institution across the north lawn of the congress here that great institution will be strengthened by her and that she has a role to play really as a role model but also as an ambassador she’ll be the youngest member of the court she’ll be a teacher on the court and she will be able to help us ensure that people understand the rightful role of the united states supreme court to protect and adhere to the constitution not to legislate but to allow the legislative branch to do its work and then interpret those laws and the constitution faithfully how seriously do you take those threats from some Democrats who say they will pack the forts should they win uh next week well, of course, we are fighting every day to make sure that we hold the majority in the united states senate to me that is the key to this

but i absolutely believe that the democrats will if they take the white house the house and the senate change the rules dramatically and change the country dramatically by expanding the size of the supreme court going from 9 to 11 or 13 and that’s just one of the list of horribles that I think they would they would put into place the, uh there are a number of candidates who are running as democrats and a number of democrats who are here right now who have said they were open to this want to do it even the senator who led the charge by signing a letter saying we would never get rid of the filibuster which they, of course, have to do to expand the size of the supreme court is now open to it the nominee for vice president said she was absolutely it so this is to me a real threat if they weren’t going to do it former vice president joe biden nominee joe biden would have put an end to this early on by saying no we’re not going to do that but by continuing to refuse to answer the question even

George Stephanopoulos

when put to him by George Stephanopoulos as well tell you later before we before people before election day well you already have over 60 million people that have voted in this country so he has not been forthcoming and i believe that the threat is real and i believe is what they intend to do if they were able to win all three offices which is why we’re fighting so hard to not allow that to happen the prospect that this that this vote could trigger democrats to do something that drastic at any time gave you in the conference pause as to whether this was the right move given the democrats not at all a vacancy occurred it occurred at a time when we had both the republicans in the majority in the senate and republican in the white house and historically when either party has both of those sides the nominating side and the confirming side through the history of the united states whenever that happens you generally get with unified government the confirmation occurring when you have divided government the nomination does not move forward

every time the president does nominate so no this, uh did not enter in at all but the democrats have been saying this for a long time when you took a look at chuck Schumer outside the supreme court yelling the names of Gorsuch and Kavanagh and saying you and personally would pay a price if they didn’t rule the way that chuck Schumer said they had to rule I mean to me that was a statement that they were that the price that they were going to pay that the country was going to have to pay was that they would stack the court they’d expand the numbers of the court if they were ever in a position where they had all three, uh both booths there are no republicans have no concerns with this vote at all 52 republicans just stood up when their names were called and voted to confirm amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court she is eminently qualified beyond any shadow of a doubt the majority of Americans republicans and democrats alike combined believe

she should be on the supreme court and I think there’s no bearing on what the Democrats would do if they have house senate and the president even if ruth Bader Ginsburg had not passed when she did I think that was their intention all the way throughout and if democrats do take such a step what’s your message to them to turn around what would that mean number one is we have an election day is coming up eight days from now we’re doing everything we can 20 people who voted today are going home tonight and tomorrow morning to compete to return to the united states senate and to keep us in the majority and as a united team we want to make sure they can all return