Senate needs to confirm Judge Barrett before Election Day 

President Trump delivers on his promises. Ahead of his election in 2016, he promised to nominate judges who will defend the Constitution. The confirmation of two Supreme Court justices, and more than 200 lower-court judges to the federal bench, is proof the president is not backing down from his pledge.

In fact, as we write in our book, “Trump: America First,” the president is just getting started. True to his word, President Trump nominated federal appellate judge Amy Coney Barrett, who should be confirmed before Election Day.

Left-wing activists and liberal lawmakers are crying foul, of course, but that does not diminish the president’s constitutional duty to name a successor to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, nor does it reduce the Senate’s right to give advice and consent of the nominee.

As Sen. Ted Cruz said in a recent interview, “[A]t the end of the day, how do you resolve those differences? Well, the American people do, and the American people did by electing a president and a Senate committed to justices who will defend free speech, religious liberty and the Second Amendment, and our fundamental rights, because all of those rights are one vote away.”

The Supreme Court vacancy must be filled before Election Day because the election might be contested and an eight-member Supreme Court would leave our nation at an impasse. As the Conservative Action Project said, “A fully staffed Supreme Court is vital to ensuring that the election disputes get a fair and final hearing.”

With control of the Senate hanging in the balance, the American voters deserve to know where their senators will come down on Judge Barrett. There’s nothing more revealing to voters than whether their elected leaders will support a president’s Supreme Court nominee.

Looking beyond Election Day, a deadlocked Supreme Court is unacceptable at a time when they are considering important cases regarding religious liberty and, potentially, health care and abortion.

Democrats unhappy with the end result can take it up with the American people or former Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). During the Obama administration, in 2013, Senator Reid triggered the so-called “nuclear option,” which requires a simple-majority vote from the Senate to advance federal judicial nominees to a confirmation vote.

Senator Reid poisoned the well, and the Democrat Party is now reaping the consequences. Make no mistake, if the shoe were on the other foot and liberal lawmakers had control of the White House and the Senate, Sen. Reid’s successor would waste no time filling a Supreme Court vacancy and advancing their party’s agenda.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, if elected president, would nominate left-wing judges intent on legislating from the bench. His judicial appointees likely would act as super-legislators who derive decisions from personal biases instead of from the Constitution.

President Trump, on the other hand, is following through on his promise to nominate those whose jurisprudence mirrors that of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. That legal giant made clear the job of a justice isn’t to impose his or her opinion on the law but to respect the separation of powers.

As Justice Scalia famously said in 2011, “You don’t like the death penalty anymore? That’s fine. You want a right to abortion? There’s nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn’t mean you cannot prohibit it. Persuade your fellow citizens it’s a good idea and pass a law. That’s what democracy is all about. It’s not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society.”

President Trump has proven time and again that no amount of bullying by Democrats will derail him from his constitutional duty or from his promise to nominate Scalia-like judges who will respect the law, not create it. He made an excellent choice in nominating Judge Barrett. It’s time for the Senate to do its job: Confirm justices who will uphold our Constitution and preserve our God-given rights, like Judge Barrett.

David Bossie is president of Citizens United and former chief investigator for the U.S. House of Representatives. Corey Lewandowski was President Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and is now a senior adviser to the president’s reelection campaign. Their book, Trump: America First, was released Sept. 29.