Amy Coney Barrett Should Refuse to Recuse

The Senate began confirmation hearings Monday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and Democrats know they’re unlikely to block her ascension to the Supreme Court. So they’re rolling out a supposed ethics test that if she joins the Court she must recuse herself on cases related to the presidential election.

The claim is that because President Trump nominated Judge Barrett, she has a conflict of interest in judging election cases. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse argues the standard is “whether a reasonable observer could reasonably question her participating in a dispute involving Trump’s...