Ben Sasse thinks GOP colleague Josh Hawley’s Supreme Court litmus test 'is a very bad idea'

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) says he will only vote to confirm Supreme Court nominees who have explicitly demonstrated on the record — before their nomination — that they consider Roe v. Wade wrongly decided. The senator has said Judge Amy Coney Barrett satisfies that requirement because "there's plenty of evidence, I think ... that she understands that Roe is — in my words — an act of judicial imperialism," so Hawley likely won't be the one to hold up her confirmation. But, The Atlantic's Emma Green reports, not everyone is a fan of Hawley's unofficial requirement.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said he likes Hawley "personally," but he told Green that his colleague's "litmus test is a very bad idea" and looks like "the right acting like the left." By that, Sasse means it plays into his concerns about the over-politicization of the court, in which both Democrats and Republicans are growing more focused on how potential justices affect particular partisan policies and causes, rather than their legal philosophies.

Again, the conflicting views between the two Republicans won't come to a head during Barrett's confirmation process. Sasse also appears likely to confirm the judge, but his decision seemingly won't be tied to any particular Supreme Court case. Instead, he's impressed by Barrett's belief that judges aren't meant to create policy, but interpret and enforce the law. Barrett, he told The Atlantic, "doesn't think you slop applesauce on tablets and then call it law because it came from a judge." Read more at The Atlantic.

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