Democrats false Narrative on SCOTUS and Some Facts on a Few of the Potential Nominees

Democrats have begun to attack both the Supreme Court confirmation process and some of President Trump's potential nominees.  We provide the facts and some real details on the highly qualified judges.  

Senate Minority Leader Schumer has been saying the Biden Rule applies to the Kennedy vacancy.  While we think it is great that Schumer now acknowledges the Biden Rule (which his own party established), he is purposely misconstruing it and applying it completely wrong.  As the Washington Post explains:

The GOP did argue in 2016 that a Supreme Court vacancy shouldn't be filled until after voters had their say in the coming election, but their argument was about who gets to nominate the justice — not who gets to confirm him or her. It was clearly about presidential election years, not midterms. 

For comparison, Republicans did not attempt to stop Elana Kagan’s confirmation in summer 2010, just ahead of the Senate midterm election (when Republicans won back the Senate); despite, Senate Republicans ability to filibuster. The Democrats are proving they have no interest confirming a qualified Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, but would rather play partisan political games and continue their efforts to "resist" and obstruct President Trump--even if the country suffers as a result.

Over the next few days, we will highlight some of the nominees that are most talked about. Below are three highly respected judges from President Trump’s list of potential nominees that are currently gaining the most attention in the media.


Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, is a Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  Judge Barret is a graduate and Professor at the Notre Dame School of Law since 2002, and clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. She also served as an associate at Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C., where she litigated constitutional, criminal, and commercial cases in both trial and appellate courts. As the Washington Times states Judge Barret had a remarkably difficult experience being confirmed due to potentially anti-Catholic bias:

Republicans said Democrats were bringing “Catholic bigotry” back to the halls of Congress as almost all Democratic senators voted to try to filibuster a Notre Dame University professor President Trump has nominated to be a judge on a federal appeals court. 

The GOP defeated the filibuster on a 54-42 vote, though only three Democrats joined Republicans in backing Amy Coney Barrett, the law professor Mr. Trump nominated to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, Sen. Joe Donnelly, Indiana Democrat, and Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat were the three who broke with their party to back Ms. Barrett.  “Amy Barrett happens to be a nominee who is Catholic—and who speaks freely and openly about her faith and its importance to her,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “For some on the Left, that seems to be a disqualifying factor for her nomination. I would remind colleagues that we do not have religious tests for office in this country.” 

Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is another potential Trump nominee. As SCOTUSblog explains, Judge Hardiman is highly qualified and a strong conservative:

The Massachusetts-born Hardiman became the first person in his family to go to college when he went to the University of Notre Dame, and he financed his law degree at the Georgetown University Law Center by driving a taxi. (If nominated and confirmed, Hardiman would also bring educational diversity to a court on which all of the other justices attended Ivy League law schools.) 

After his law school graduation, Hardiman worked for two years in the Washington office of Skadden Arps before moving to Pittsburgh, where he practiced law until 2003. At the age of 37, Hardiman became a federal district judge; he was appointed to the 3rd Circuit in 2007, at the age of 41 – yet another similarity with Sotomayor, who also became a district judge at the age of 37 and took her seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit at the age of 44.  

During his nearly ten years as a federal appeals court judge, Hardiman has weighed in on a variety of hot-button topics important to Republicans, and his votes in these cases have consistently been conservative. For example, the gun rights cases in which Hardiman has participated reflect an originalist approach to the Second Amendment right to bear arms.    

Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Kavanaugh grew up in Bethesda and attended Yale University and Yale Law School. He later clerked for Kennedy on the Supreme Court and served as a counsel in the White House of President George W. Bush.  

The Baltimore Sun recently highlighted Judge Kavanaugh strong conservative roots:

On the Court of Appeals, Kavanaugh has frequently provided a conservative opinion. In 2017, he was among three dissenting judges on a decision that allowed an immigrant teenager to get an abortion. At the time, he said the majority had "badly erred" and created a new right for undocumented immigrant minors in custody to "immediate abortion on demand."

The RNLA believes any of the three aforementioned judges would each be highly qualified and excellent picks by President Trump.