amy barrett, confirmed. joan larsen, confirmed. allison eid, confirmed. stephanos bibas, confirmed. after eight years of a president who selected judges based upon an ideological litmus test designed to find nominees who favor certain groups or individuals over others, we now have a president who is sending over nominees who will ensure that the judiciary is actually living up to the role we expect in our democracy. treating everyone equally, giving every litigant a fair shake, applying the law as it's actually written, not as a judge wishes it might be. the four circuit court nominees the senate confirmed last week will do just that. democrats have put up a lot of procedural roadblocks to prevent the senate from moving forward all year. we have moved ahead anyway. as a result, despite all the obstacles from the other side, we're making significant progress. of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work and notable leadership of judiciary committee chairman juk grassley, and i want to thank him again for everything he's done. we're not finished yesterday. we're goi

confirmed the nomination of -- yesterday when the senate confirmed the nomination of professor amy barrett to the seventh circuit court of appeals, we took another important step to ensure that the federal judiciary fulfills its role in our constitutional system. now we have the opportunity to confirm another well-qualified woman to the federal bench, michigan supreme court justice joan larsen. president trump nominated her to serve on the sixth circuit and she'll be a strong addition to that court and a benefit to our nation. after graduating first in her class from northwestern's law school, justice larsen served as a law clerk for judge david cintell of the d.c. circuit court and then for justice antonin scalia. these clerkships honed her ability and respect for the rule of law preparing her for a distinguished career. joan larsen also served as deputy assistant attorney general in the department of justice office of legal counsel, former government officials from both republican and democratic administrations wrote in strong support of her nomination. each of them holding her in the hi

the white house has added to its list amy barrett, britt grant, she sits on the georgia supreme court, britt cavanaugh, a bush appoint appointee, kevin newsom, and patrick wyrick. he's a new appointee to oklahoma's supreme court. so that gives a list of 25 nominees to choose from. the federalists society is meeting in washington this week. don mcgann is about to give a speech regarding this organization. amy barrett has large support from catholics, even though that was a point of contention. >> john, in the minute or so we have left, back to the tax issue. we've seen zero evidence that any democrats would in fact work with republicans. there has to be wrangling going on with these half a de-sen republicans who are on the >> there's no question. you're twisting arms of republicans as much as you are trying to cajole democrats. i mention heidi heitkamp and joe manchin that said there's some aspects of tax reform that they would like. heidi heitkamp appeared on the stage in north dakota. if you have to arm wrestle republicans, democrats are the least of your worries. rick? >> thanks, jo

no wonder he spells his name with only 1 l amy barrett was grilled by her catholic face.urbin asked if she considered herself an orthodox children. he didn't mention she has 7 children. diane feinstein suggested that the dogma lives loudly within you and that's a concern. can you imagine either of those senators trying that on a muslim court nominee. barrett was confirmed. good. this is an intimidation campaign that has been tried and tried again even on yours truly. i didn't know about this until a few days ago. following the debut of this show last week, a bright light at the observer.com dubbed he the church lady! that's funny because i appeared before the audience in purple vestments, that's a dress, that highlighted the gleaming gold cross on my chest. there it is. see it. really powerful. as expected, the author is a former "new york times" employee and a segment producer for keith oberman. a football coach in georgia can't participate in any student led prayer before or after or during a football game. he can't pray at all in his official capacity as a coach. the s

and, two, amy barrett and stephanos bibas were nominated only after republicans block the nominations of two other african american women to the respected benches. mr. president, it is clear that republican leaders' list of legislative failures grow longer. their stacking of the courts is only going to accelerate. to might appeal to extreme conservatives. in fact i'm pretty sure it does. but the truth is that whether it is health care or infrastructure or taxes, most people across the country really want to see congress working together. so i'm going to continuing to everything i can to speak out and fight back against extreme, harmful steps that are being taken by this administration and allowed by republican leaders here and also show there is a better way to get things done, by working under regular order, across the aisle, and putting people -- people, not politics -- first. that is what our families rightfully expect, and that's what we all should be focused on. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. hassan: thank y

but allysia, amy barrett. >> she was criticized by diane feinstein if before too dogmatic. >> are youolic? that was a stunning question at a con confirmation hearing and basically said if you are too orthodox in your religious belief maybe you don't have the ability to serve on the nation's highest court but now trump is raising raising raising raising the ante and has been confirmed to appellate court bimpleg. now on the list for the higher court and i think in part the democrats gave her such a hard time because they feel she may be elevated. >> trump is taunting the democrats about this. what you also see is the justices that made the list are also very young, most of them are in their 30's, early 40's, bret is 52 and that also goes well for the binge. >> the rule of thumb you don't want somebody to serve 40 years, mid-50 seems to be the cutoff. unfortunately for those of us we must give up aspirations to serve. >> you can't have everything. [laughter] >> let's extend this point. there are a lot of people who have problems with donald trump personally during election it was expecte

that includes amy barrett. she was appointed earlier this year. rick grant, brett cavanaugh was a bush appointee in 2006 to the d.c. circuit court. kevin newsom who president trump appointed this week to atlanta's court of appeal and patrick wyrick who was an appointee to oklahoma. you're saying why is he adding to the list if there's no vacancy? the white house says after thanksgiving maybe justice kennedy could retire. now the list of nominees to replace the next nominee is up to 25 with these latest additions to the list. neil? >> neil: the president had to know he would be asked that question and people would raise their eyebrows given all the women that came out and questioned him, that it would look weird, him pointing fingers at al franken. >> right. you know, his reaction to roy moore was subdued. he didn't come out and proactively talk about roy moore. he waited until he was asked about it in a gaggle by reporters aboard air force one. but you know, barely hours after the franken stuff hit he's tweeting about it. there's a disconnect ther

amy barrett, she was recently confirmed. [applause] mr. mcgahn: -- to the seventh circuit. and the dogma moves loudly in her. [applause] to the folks over there, in her confirmation hearing, the ranking member senator feinstein actually commented about now judge wasett saying the dogma strong in her. so judge dogma is on the list. [laughter] mr. mcgahn: grant, who is a supreme court justice in georgia. [applause] mr. mcgahn: greg kavanaugh. [applause] mr. mcgahn: he's winning on the applause meter. kevin newsome, recently confirmed to the eleventh circuit. [applause] wyrick.hn: and patrick [cheers] [applause] i think i'm just going to throw out my notes and go back to my opening, but i'm almost done with the boring part. so, what do the judges on the list have in common? they have a demonstrated commitment to original ism and texturallism. they all have paper trails, they all are sitting judges, there is nothing unknown about them. what you see is what you get. it's not enough to say the right things in public speeches. judges must apply those principles in concrete cases.

yesterday, i was very pleased to support amy barrett's confirmation to the court of appeals for the seventh circuit. despite obstruction from my colleagues on the other side, i am pleased that yesterday we confirmed ms. barrett, but still i have deep concerns about some of the debate. some of the questions that were raised about her religious beliefs throughout the confirmation process. the constitution clearly states that there can be no religious test for any federal office. the senate has a responsibility to consider qualifications and fitness for office of individuals nominated by the president, but that does not include an evaluation of a nominee's religious beliefs. our constitution fundamentally protects religious liberty for all americans. that principle is deeply rooted in our nation's history and allows individuals of all faiths the freedom to exercise their religious beliefs. ms. barrett's credentials clearly demonstrated that her ability to serve on the federal bench, which she will be doing, and i hope that future nominees are questioned by this body on their record, their qual

this is consistent with their votes against professor amy barrett, justice joan larsen, and justice allison eid, all of whom received well-qualified ratings. it appears that my democratic colleagues don't actually read the a.b.a.'s ratings as particularly important when it comes right down to practice. professor bibas is the son of a greek immigrant who came to this country after surviving the nazi occupation of greece. he boasts impressive academic credentials. he graduated from columbia university, age 19. he then received degrees from the university of oxford and yale law school. after law school, professor bibas clerked for judge patrick higgenbottom of the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth circuit. then for justice anthony kennedy of the united states supreme court. following these prestigis clerkships, professor bibas became an assistant u.s. attorney, southern district new york. his experience as a prosecutor gave him a firsthand view of the problems and injustices in the american criminal justice system. he decided to pursue a career as an academic and focusing then on improving t

amy coney barrett climbed through the ranks by clerking for lawrence silberman. working with her husband, a successful lawyer in his own right, she has balanced family responsibilities while achieving personal success. at the age of 30, she was hired as a professor at one of the nation's best law programs, notre dame. over the past six years, she has sat on the advisory committee on federal rules of the appellate procedure, on the recommendation of chief justice roberts. joan louise larsen, the next united states circuit judge for the sixth circuit, is proof that hard work pays off. after graduating top in her class from northwestern, judge larsen clerked for justice scalia on the supreme court, before serving as a deputy attorney general in the u.s. department of justice office of legal counsel. she most recently sat on the highest court in her state, the supreme court of michigan. she has done this while working with her law professor husband to raise two children. allison eid, the newest judge for the tenth circuit has demonstrated brilliance throughout her ca