Following President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calling on every member of the Democratic Caucus to publicly reject attacks on Judge Barrett’s Christian faith and abstain from anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, anti-faith vitriol in the hearings to come.
During Judge Barrett’s nomination hearing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Senate Democrats attacked her faith, including Senator Dianne Feinstein disparaging her Catholicism by saying “the dogma lives loudly within you,” Senator Dick Durbin asking if she was an “orthodox Catholic,” and Senator Mazie Hirono suggesting she would be a “Catholic judge” who might not be able to follow federal law.
“There is a long history of anti-Catholic hatred by some in this country, and a growing tide of anti-religious animus on the Left now, and I hope you and your colleagues will not play any further part in it,” Senator Hawley writes.
“These attacks and insinuations remain disgusting. Religious bigotry has no place in the United States Senate. I ask that you and all your colleagues reject your past acts of intolerance, and commit to considering Judge Barrett’s nomination on the merits of her qualifications, not by slandering her faith—and the faith of millions of Americans.”
Full text of the letter is available here and below.
September 26, 2020
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
S-221 The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Minority Leader Schumer:
Now that President Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States, I call on you and every member of the Democratic Caucus to publicly reject Senator Dianne Feinstein’s egregious personal attacks on Judge Barrett’s Christian faith during her previous confirmation hearings, and to pledge you will abstain from that kind of anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, anti-faith vitriol in the hearings to come. You owe it to the country.
As you will recall, Senator Feinstein, the most senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told Judge Barrett in her previous hearings that “the dogma lives loudly within you,” a clear and condescending disparagement of Judge Barrett’s Catholicism. Senator Feinstein was not alone. Senator Durbin also interrogated Judge Barrett’s religious beliefs and asked whether she was an “orthodox Catholic.” And Senator Hirono suggested that Judge Barrett would not simply be a federal judge, but a “Catholic judge,” who might not be able to follow the law. Already, members of your caucus have said that they will do this again—that the nominee’s religious views will be a prime focus.
Over and over these last four years, your caucus has sought to return to the days of “religious tests,” to exclude people of faith from public office and from the public square. Your members have attacked and attempted to disqualify nominees by questioning their views on the nature of sin, their beliefs about heaven and hell, their memberships in religious organizations, and the activities of their churches. But our Constitution bans religious tests. Democrats’ offensive and wholly inappropriate attacks must not be repeated in this confirmation process.
There is a long history of anti-Catholic hatred by some in this country, and a growing tide of anti-religious animus on the Left now, and I hope you and your colleagues will not play any further part in it.
These attacks and insinuations remain disgusting. Religious bigotry has no place in the United States Senate. I ask that you and all your colleagues reject your past acts of intolerance, and commit to considering Judge Barrett’s nomination on the merits of her qualifications, not by slandering her faith—and the faith of millions of Americans.
Sincerely,
Josh Hawley
U.S. Senator