Idaho’s Sen. Crapo ‘very impressed’ with Supreme Court nominee Barrett
Republican Sen. Mike Crapo met Monday with Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and was assured she was “solidly committed to interpreting the law.”
The Idaho Republican has been regarded as a solid supporter of President Donald Trump’s nominee, and did nothing to change that view after his meeting. Barrett, nominated by Trump on Saturday to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, spent her day visiting the senators who will vote on her nomination.
Crapo told reporters that he was “very impressed ... she’s got stellar credentials.”
The most important factor in his judgment, he said, was that “she will interpret the law and the Constitution as it is written, and that’s critical.”
Asked what she said that left him so impressed, Crapo urged looking back at the remarks she made at her hearing when she was nominated as a federal appellate judge in 2017. Barrett serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Chicago-based 7th Circuit.
At that hearing, Crapo said, “she indicated she has the same judicial philosophy as Justice Scalia.” Barrett was a clerk for former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a hero to the conservative movement.
If confirmed and sworn in before the election, a goal of many Republicans, Barrett could hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Asked whether she should recuse herself from that argument, since she has written about it, Crapo said, “I’m not going to comment on any of those types of questions.”
Barrett, a law professor at Notre Dame before becoming a judge, was critical of legal arguments that helped maintain parts of the law, which expanded health care coverage and provided other new protection to consumers.
The Senate Judiciary Committee expects to begin hearings on the Barrett nomination on Oct. 12. The committee, which has 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats, would vote on the choice the next week, and the full Senate could vote by the end of October.
Democrats’ power to stall or defeat the nomination appears limited, since Republicans control 53 of the 100 seats.
.jpg)