JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Senate on Tuesday [10-31-17] confirmed University of Notre Dame law professor Amy Barrett for a federal appeals court judgeship, closing for now a debate about whether it is appropriate for lawmakers to ask a nominee questions about their religious faith.
Ms. Barrett was confirmed to the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on a 55-43 vote.
President Donald Trump nominated the professor, a former law clerk to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, in May.
Ms. Barrett’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September sparked criticism from some Republicans after a few Democratic senators, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), asked about Ms. Barrett’s Catholicism and whether she would be able to separate her religious beliefs from her duty of impartiality as a judge. Ms. Barrett said she could…
In the end, three Democrats joined with the Senate’s 52 Republicans in voting for Ms. Barrett’s confirmation.”
-Brent Kendall, “Divided Senate Confirms Notre Dame Professor to U.S. Appeals Court,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 31, 2017 07:02pm