No 'dogma': Democrats walk tightrope on Barrett's faith

“Her religion is immaterial,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, but it's not out of bounds to question “the views themselves that she has articulated.” At hearings that begin Monday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he will focus on Barrett's "public statements, on her judicial philosophy, on the ways in which her judicial views as publicly expressed leave me gravely concerned about how she might rule as a justice.” Republicans are gleeful, predicting that Democrats will overreach and alienate key voters just weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

“The dogma lives loudly within you.” It's that utterance from California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, that's on the minds of Democrats and Republicans preparing for this coming week's hearings with Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Feinstein's 2017 remarks as she questioned Barrett — then a nominee for an appeals court — about the influence of Barrett's Catholic faith on her judicial views sparked bipartisan backlash, contributing to the former law professor's quick rise as a conservative judicial star.

Three years later, Barrett is back before senators as President Donald Trump's nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The nomination poses a politically risky test for lawmakers as they try to probe Barrett's views on issues of abortion, health care access and gay marriage without running afoul of the Constitution's prohibition against a religious test for public officials. “Her religion is immaterial,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, but it's not out of bounds to question “the views themselves that she has articulated.” At hearings that begin Monday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he will focus on Barrett's "public statements, on her judicial philosophy, on the ways in which her judicial views as publicly expressed leave me gravely concerned about how she might rule as a justice.” Republicans are gleeful, predicting that Democrats will overreach and alienate key voters just weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Democrats are determined to avoid the trap, recognizing the political danger as their presidential nominee, Joe Biden, himself a lifelong Catholic, courts voters of faith.

“God forbid a Democratic senator did go after this candidate on the grounds of her religious belief,” said Stephen Schneck, a national co-chair of Catholics for Biden. “I think it would create a huge backlash that would certainly hurt the Biden campaign.” It's all the more daunting because Barrett's faith has drawn much scrutiny thanks to her previous role as a “handmaiden” in People of Praise, a charismatic Christian community that views men as household leaders and, some ex-members say, women as subservient. She and her husband lived in a home owned by co-founders of the group when they were in law school, according to public records. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says any attacks on Barrett's faith are a “disgrace.” Democrats, he said, are “so disconnected from their own country that they treat religious Americans like strange animals in a menagerie.” Democratic leaders have pledged to focus their questioning elsewhere — particularly on the Affordable Care Act, which is being challenged before the court next month, and Barrett's stance on the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.

“I don't intend to question her about her personal views or private religious faith or views,” Coons, a key Biden ally, said this past week. “I don't expect my colleagues will either.” Feinstein spokesman Adam Russell said Feinstein “plans on focusing on the issues and what's at stake for millions of American families if this process continues.” The balancing act could prove difficult. Fearful of losing the high court for a generation, the left is demanding that Democrats resist Barrett's nomination with everything they have. But with the election so close, Democrats are wary of missteps that could hurt their bid to wrest back control of the White House and the Senate majority.

Republicans have preemptively declared any discussion of Barrett's faith out of bounds. A Republican on the committee, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to ensure Democrats don't give oxygen to what Hawley said is an “a long history of anti-Catholic hatred by some in this country.”

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