Utah Senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney praised the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court after the announcement Saturday.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah senators who will ascertain the qualities of a Supreme Court Justice nominee — and approve or disapprove of her — reacted to the news on President Donald Trump’s choice Saturday.
President Trump officially nominated 7th Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett and hailed her as “a woman of remarkable intellect and character.”
Via Tweet, Sen. Mitt Romney called Amy Coney Barret a “respected jurist possessing distinguished legal and academic credentials.”
After the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Romney was considered one of three possible Republican holdouts in the Senate. He — along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — have previously gone against GOP leadership.
Most notably, Romney was the only Republican senator to vote “Yes” to impeach President Trump for abuse of power — one of two articles of impeachment the U.S. House of Representatives found President Trump guilty of.
The Deseret News reported Sen. Romney’s office began fielding questions about another possible round of dissent with President Trump last weekend. Earlier this week, Sen. Romney announced he would not block a vote on the president’s nominee.
Sen. Mike Lee, who attended Saturday’s announcement in the Rose Garden, speculated via tweet what type of jurist Barret would be if approved by the U.S. Senate. He called her nomination a promise kept by both himself and President Trump.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes also took to Twitter where he noted Barrett’s “respect for the Rule of Law.” Reyes urged Congress to act quickly to confirm her.