Free Republic

Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) has some concerns about Neomi Rao, President Trump’s nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to replace Justice Brett Kavanaugh. According to CNN, Hawley is not sure where she stands on abortion, Roe v. Wade, and substantive due process, and he worries about her lack of litigation experience. Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network has sharply criticized Hawley for expressing concerns about Rao. She says he is acting like his predecessor, Claire McCaskill, assassinating Rao’s character and trying to “make headlines” rather than work to confirm her. Severino’s organization is threatening to run...

“[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Article VI of the Constitution might first been have been penned with quill and ink, but the message is timeless: no federal public office-holder should be screened, tested, or maligned for his or her personal, religious convictions. It’s a rather forward-thinking constitutional rule. Our country today is diverse and tolerant enough to respect both the deeply held beliefs of a San Francisco club owner and those of a small-town Iowa youth pastor. And if Americans are truly free to hold...