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Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected the notion that the Supreme Court has granted Donald Trump unchecked authority in his efforts to deport illegal immigrants and transform the federal workforce.
In her first television interview since taking over the position vacated by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020, the Justice, appointed by Trump, also dismissed Hillary Clinton’s grim forecast regarding the future of gay rights.
During her conversation with CBS, Barrett addressed concerns that the Supreme Court has become more conservative since her appointment and failed to curb Trump’s significant influence over immigration policies, extensive federal dismissals, and recently, the management of the National Guard.
‘It’s not our job to survey and decide whether the current occupant of an office in this particular moment is…,’ she said, trailing off momentarily before adding, ‘to form a political view.’
‘That’s the job of journalists, that’s the job of other politicians, or that’s the job of the people. But our job is to decide these legal questions.
‘We’re trying to get the law right.’
The Supreme Court has allowed Trump’s most controversial policies – including routine deportations and mass layoffs of the federal workforce – to temporarily proceed amid mounting lawsuits in lesser courts.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett rubbished claims the Supreme Court has given President Donald Trump untapped power
Barrett was also confronted with the ramifications of her crucial vote to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022
Barrett (top left) swatted away observations that the Supreme Court has ‘shifted to the right’ since her appointment
But Barrett doesn’t necessarily see this as a shift to the right, arguing politics is not relevant for her when she makes a decision.
Instead, she said she approaches each case with an open mind, relying on briefs, oral arguments, her law clerks and colleagues to form her opinion.
‘At any step of that process, I might change my mind from my initial reaction,’ she said. ‘In fact, I often do.’
For that reason, Barrett refused to be drawn on generic questions about the constitutional limitations of some of Trump’s policies.
On tariffs, she said: ‘That one actually is pending in the courts, and we may well (dare I say likely will) see that case.
‘I don’t know what I think about that question yet, I can honestly say. You know, stay tuned. If that case comes before us, and after I dive in and read all the relevant authorities, then I’ll draw a conclusion.’
She said weighing in on Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in Democrat-led cities to reel in crime, or on his tariff regime, would actions be ‘the opposite of the judicial rule.’
The Supreme Court has allowed Trump’s most controversial policies – including routine deportations
Barrett enjoyed a meteoric rise after Trump plucked her out of Indiana, where she was teaching at a college, for a role on the Supreme Court
On August 26, when challenged about his use of the National Guard, Trump sensationally said: ‘Not that I don’t have – I would – the right to do anything I want to do.
‘I’m the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger – and it is in danger in these cities – I can do it.’
Barrett was also confronted with the ramifications of her crucial vote to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending nearly 50 years of precedent which constitutionally enshrined a woman’s right to an abortion.
CBS said it was just one example proving Barrett, a 53-year-old mother-of-seven, had become ‘the most influential justice’ on the court.
Last month, former presidential candidate and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned the Supreme Court could ‘do to gay marriage what they did to abortion.’
‘American voters, and to some extent the American media, don’t understand how many years the Republicans have been working in order to get us to this point,’ she said.
Trump has also been able to proceed with his gutting of the federal workforce
Barrett maintains she does not consider politics when she is making a decision in a case
‘It took 50 years to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court will hear a case about gay marriage… they will send it back to the states.’
‘Anybody in a committed relationship out there in the LGBTQ community, you ought to consider getting married because I don’t think they’ll undo existing marriages, but I fear they will undo the national right.’
But Barrett dismissed Clinton’s fears, insisting she and her colleagues ‘have to tune those things out’ to get on with their jobs.
She also noted that the rights to marry, use birth control and raise children are ‘fundamental’ and part of ‘our doctrine.’
Barrett enjoyed a meteoric rise in 2020 after Trump chose her to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
At the time, she had been a long time law professor in Indiana, but she had caught Trump’s eye several years prior during her time on the 7th Circuit.
In that position, she took conservative stances on hot-button conservative issues like abortion and gun control.