Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s 3rd SCOTUS Appointee, Sworn In

Following the Senate’s confirmation of U.S. 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the White House hosted a Rose Garden ceremony where Justice Clarence Thomas administered the official constitutional oath.

“She is one of our nation’s most brilliant legal scholars. She will make an outstanding justice on the highest court in our land,” President Trump said before Thomas swore in Barrett, the mother of seven school aged children. Justice Thomas was a friend of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom Barrett worked as a law clerk and who she considers her mentor.

After taking the oath, 48-year-old Justice Barrett, a Constitutionalist, spoke of the need for a federal judge to put aside personal policy preferences in decision-making.

“A judge declares independence not only from Congress and the president but also from the private beliefs that might otherwise move her.”

“The oath that I have solemnly taken tonight means at its core that I will do my job without any fear or favor, and that I will do so independently of both the political branches and of my own preferences,” she stated.

In a roll call vote that began just before 8:00 p.m. the senate voted 52-48 along partisan lines, with only Maine Sen. Susan Collins breaking with Republicans to vote with Democrats opposing the confirmation.

The Federal Judicial Center details Justice Barrett’s impressive professional bio.