A conservative group is releasing a pledge for Senate Democrats that they will not attack Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, on her religion during the upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearings set to start Oct. 12.
The pledge references Article VI of the Constitution, which explicitly bars any religious tests for office in the federal government. It is highly unlikely to be signed by any of the Democrats on the committee and meant instead to highlight some past comments made by Senate Democrats that conservatives view as out of bounds or even bigoted. The effort is organized by the Article III Project, a group dedicated to backing the confirmation of Trump-nominated judges.
“The Constitution guarantees the right to free exercise of religion and bars all religious tests for federal office,” Mike Davis, the founder of the Article III Project, said. “Over the past several years of confirmation hearings, Senate Judiciary Democrats Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, Dick Durbin, and Mazie Hirono have clearly demonstrated that the anti-Catholic bigotry lives loudly within them. That is unacceptable, unconstitutional, and we challenge every Democrat on the Committee to sign the Article VI pledge and refrain from any and all attacks on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholicism.”