Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has taken part in the confirmation proceedings for every currently sitting Supreme Court justice, called Democrats to task Monday for their stringent objections to President Donald Trump's nominees.
"I lived through all of these things in the early days because the Democrats were in such control of this whole place," the veteran Utah Republican, who at one point chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime" anchor Harris Faulkner.
"The votes on Supreme Court nominees were never close, but the Democrats now are so upset that the Republicans have this opportunity of appointing nominees to the court . . . it is just ridiculous," Hatch, who has seen 15 Supreme Court fights, added.
The top contenders for the role have included federal appeals judges Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett, and Thomas Hardiman. Hatch described all four as being "all really outstanding people."
"Any one of them would make a good justice on the Supreme Court, and I think it's going to be tough for the Democrats to face that," Hatch said.
Singling out Barrett, Hatch admitted he thinks there is "something in me that says it would be wonderful if they employed Amy Coney Barrett. I think that would be a good thing."
If Trump nominates Barrett though, the fight to get her confirmed could "really get vicious" Hatch said.
"In the case of Amy Coney Barrett, I'd ask her what she believes and what she feels is true in the law, and I would bring up some of the things that that they hate and see if she can handle those very well," Hatch said. "When she appeared before the Judiciary Committee before, she did very, very well, handled those well, and there's no question she is a tremendous woman, a mother of seven children, a law professor. If you were looking for somebody to pick for the Supreme Court, you'd have to say that she is an excellent choice."
He said he agrees, though, the fight to get Trump's nominee through will be tough.
"It usually is, especially when a conservative Republican is appointed," he said. "It usually is pretty vicious, and I suspect that they will really get vicious if Amy Coney Barrett is chosen. The budget she can very well handle herself, she is very smart, she knows what she's talking about, she's a law professor. I have a high regard for her, but I have a regard for the other three as well."
The senator said no matter who Trump picks, if it is one of the four top contenders, that person will eventually be confirmed.
"The Republicans are in control of the Senate, and we all know how important this is, and the people that he has suggested are really outstanding people," Hatch said.
Barrett, for example, "is a law professor in one of the major universities, and she's a very fine person, but she is conservative and of course the Democrats hate that."
However, Democrats cannot afford to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee, as that would be the first such filibuster in history, Hatch said, but "they hate the fact that Donald Trump has a right to appoint this next Supreme Court nomination, and it's really hard for them to swallow."
Hatch, the longest-serving member of the Judicial Committee, said he gets down to tough questions during confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees, so they can answer them fairly and leave little rooms for Democrats to argue.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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