Romney will vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court

(KUTV) — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney announced Thursday he will vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I intend to vote in favor of her confirmation to the Supreme Court," Romney said in a statement. "Her distinguished legal and academic credentials make it clear that she is exceptionally well qualified to serve as our next Supreme Court justice."

Romney has been critical of President Trump on several occasions was once thought to be a possible vote against the confirmation but said Sept. 22 that he would listen and vote based on her qualifications. The Senate Judiciary Committee set Oct. 22 for its vote to recommend Barrett’s nomination to the full Senate, with a final confirmation vote expected by month’s end, according to the Associated Press.

Republicans eager to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg countered that Trump is well within bounds to fill the vacancy, and they have the votes to do it. Relying on a slim Senate majority, Trump's Republicans are poised to lock a 6-3 conservative court majority for years to come.

Barrett's confirmation would bring the most pronounced ideological change on the court in 30 years, from the liberal icon Ginsberg to the conservative appeals court judge from Indiana. The shift is poised to launch a new era of court rulings on abortion, voting rights and other matters that are now open to new uncertainty.

Romney said in his full statement:

After meeting with Judge Barrett and carefully reviewing her record and her testimony, I intend to vote in favor of her confirmation to the Supreme Court. She is impressive, and her distinguished legal and academic credentials make it clear that she is exceptionally well qualified to serve as our next Supreme Court justice. I am confident that she will faithfully apply the law and our Constitution, impartially and regardless of policy preferences.

Among those testifying Thursday in support of Barrett's nomination, retired appellate court Judge Thomas Griffith assured senators that Barrett would be among justices who “can and do put aside party and politics.”

But a coalition of civil rights groups opposed her nomination. Kristen Clarke, the president of the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights, said the judge’s unwillingness to speak forcefully for the Voting Rights Act and other issues should “sound an alarm” for Americans with a case heading to the high court.

“Our nation deserves a justice who is committed to preserving the hard-earned rights of all Americans, particularly the most vulnerable,” Clarke testified.

Trump's Republican allies, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are reshaping the judiciary, having changed Senate rules at the start of the president's term to allow 51 votes, rather than the traditional 60, to advance Supreme Court nominees. With a slim 53-47 majority, her confirmation is almost assured. She would be Trump's third justice on the high court.

A former Notre Dame Law School professor, Barrett had little courtroom experience when Trump nominated and the Senate confirmed her to the federal bench late in 2017.

When it came to major issues that are likely to come before the court, including abortion and health care, Barrett repeatedly promised to keep an open mind and said neither Trump nor anyone else in the White House had tried to influence her views.

Nominees typically resist offering any more information than they have to. But Barrett is the most open opponent of abortion nominated to the Supreme Court in decades. She refused to say whether the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights was correctly decided, though she has signed two ads against it.

“What was the point of the hearing if we don’t know what she thinks about any issues?” Durbin asked at Thursday’s final session.

Durbin said even if Barrett won’t disclose her views, “We get direct answers every day from the president.”

Republicans focused intently on her Catholic faith and what Graham called Barrett's “unashamedly pro-life” views as a role model for conservative women.