Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
Wicker, Hyde-Smith vote with GOP majority to confirm Amy Coney Barrett
By Caleb Bedillion
Both of Mississippi’s U.S. senators, Roger Wicker of Tupelo and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven, joined with a majority of their Republican colleagues to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as the newest justice to join the nation’s high court.
Since the September death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg unexpectedly opened a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Wicker and Hyde-Smith have been vocal in their support of efforts by President Donald Trump and the Senate GOP majority to fill the seat prior to November’s presidential election.
The vote to confirm Barrett was 52 to 48, with all Republicans voting to confirm except Susan Collins of Maine. All Democrats voted in opposition.
Both of Mississippi’s senators touted the credentials of the newest Supreme Court justice and their belief that she will rule in accordance with conservative judicial principles.
“I have never seen a more talented, more articulate nominee for the United States Supreme Court than I have in this new justice, Amy Coney Barrett,” Wicker said in a statement released after Monday night’s vote. “I think she will make us all proud. We have no idea the specific decisions that she will make, but I do know she was taught under the guidance of Justice Scalia, one of the great heroes of the Supreme Court. I think she will interpret the law as it is written by the legislative branch, and I think she will interpret the Constitution as it was written by our Founding Fathers.”
Hyde-Smith also released her own statement Monday night.
“The Senate has rarely ever had a nominee with the exceptional qualifications and characteristics of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. I’ve never been more confident of a vote for a nominee than I am in voting for Judge Barrett,” Hyde-Smith said. “She will be a conservative jurist committed to interpreting the law and not legislating from the bench. In the years ahead, I believe the American people will be proud to have Judge Barrett on the Supreme Court.”
Neither senator made mention of the political dispute that has raged in recent weeks about whether a confirmation vote so near a presidential election is appropriate. In 2016, Senate Republicans held open for more than nine months a vacancy on the high court and would not hold hearings or a vote for a nominee put forward by President Barack Obama.