Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett: A Conversation

On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Cook that Lisa Cook could stay on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until the Court hears argument on Donald Trump’s effort to remove her. That afternoon, I sat down with Justice Amy Coney Barrett in her chambers to discuss her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution.

We sat in Justice Barrett’s office, where she was perched on the couch that (as she describes in the book) belonged to Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes in the 1930s. The atmosphere outside was subdued. Security is more visible at the Court these days, and the building’s famous façade is covered for construction work. Across the street, the Capitol Visitor Center and the Library of Congress were closed for the first day of the government shutdown, which a sign at the Capitol euphemized as “a lapse in appropriations.” The Court, while still open for its work, won’t start buzzing until the term’s first arguments begin next week.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. Cook that Lisa Cook could stay on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until the Court hears argument on Donald Trump’s effort to remove her. That afternoon, I sat down with Justice Amy Coney Barrett in her chambers to discuss her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and the Constitution.

We sat in Justice Barrett’s office, where she was perched on the couch that (as she describes in the book) belonged to Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes in the 1930s. The atmosphere outside was subdued. Security is more visible at the Court these days, and the building’s famous façade is covered for construction work. Across the street, the Capitol Visitor Center and the Library of Congress were closed for the first day of the government shutdown, which a sign at the Capitol euphemized as “a lapse in appropriations.” The Court, while still open for its work, won’t start buzzing until the term’s first arguments begin next week.