WASHINGTON – Today, President Donald Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to fill the current vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Barrett currently serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.   

Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James, who attended the White House event Saturday, released the following statement commending President Trump’s choice of a highly qualified nominee to serve on the nation’s highest court:  

“Amy Coney Barrett is an outstanding choice for the Supreme Court. She is an originalist who respects the Constitution and will issue rulings based on the law. She is both liked and admired by friends and colleagues across the political and ideological spectrum for her intelligence, warmth, compassion, and collegiality. These qualities will serve her well when she joins the Supreme Court. Judge Barrett will be an exceptional justice.”  
 

“There is absolutely no reason for senators who support the president’s nominee and who are satisfied with her credentials to not move swiftly with the confirmation process. President Trump joins many former presidents in making an election-year nomination. Senators shouldn’t be cowed into giving up their constitutional power of advice and consent in response to political threats.”  

Prior to President Trump’s announcement, John Malcolm, a Heritage senior legal fellow and vice president for the Institute for Constitutional Government, published an article with recommended potential nominees to the Supreme Court. Judge Barrett was prominently featured in that article. Malcolm, who also attended the White House event Saturday, stated:  

“Judge Amy Coney Barrett has distinguished herself throughout her career, both before and since joining the federal bench. She certainly had the opportunity to learn from the two distinguished jurists for whom she clerked, Judge Lawrence Silberman on the D.C. Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. 

 

“As an academic, she has published on a wide array of topics in several leading law reviews. As a judge and in her many articles and speeches, she has demonstrated a commitment to originalism and textualism. Her opinions are invariably thorough, well-reasoned, and well-written, qualities that will serve her in good stead on the Supreme Court.”  

The Heritage Foundation has assembled its research on the Supreme Court confirmation process here. To learn more about President Trump’s judicial appointment record and how it compares to that of previous presidents, visit Heritage’s Judicial Appointment Tracker.