Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) questioned Judge Amy Coney Barrett on October 14, the third day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Sasse asked how Barrett would determine whether she’d had a successful career as a judge and justice upon retirement. “I would judge whether I’d had a successful career by whether I’d always acted with integrity, whether I’d always followed the Rule of Law and resisted the temptation to twist the law in the direction that I wanted it to go [and] whether I had treated my colleagues kindly and with collegiality,” Barrett said.

She added that she would also reflect on her relationships with her clerks, staff, and assistants, “because both law and the people are important.” Sasse asserted his belief that “we should be trying to excise from our language this idea of conservative and liberal blocs on the court.” He continued, “What we want are people on the court who understand, with humility and modesty, the judicial role, because it is a limited role. It is not a role to right all wrongs in society. It is not a role to be a policy advocate.” Sasse addied that he believes it’s not Barrett’s job to prejudge “certain cases” until she actually joins the court.

The hearing came about three weeks before Election Day. The third of four days of scheduled testimony gave senators another opportunity to ask Barrett about her record and approach to the law.