“The question at hand is not about Mr. Vought’s freedom to hold certain religious beliefs,” a spokesman for Sanders said. The spokesman said Vought’s post expressed his views in an “inflammatory way” and said Sanders is concerned if Vought can “carry out the duties of his office in a way that treats all Americans equally.”

Many news outlets — religious, conservative and mainstream — highlighted the exchange as a possible application of a religious test, which is prohibited under the Constitution. U.S. News & World Report spoke to legal experts who say Sanders is on solid legal ground. “Senators can vote against nominees for any reason or no reason at all,” one law professor told the magazine. “It may be atrocious, but it’s not unconstitutional,” another said

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, called Sanders’ comments “breathtakingly audacious and shockingly ignorant,” and deeply troubling even if they are legal.

“This is not some arcane or obscure private opinion being held by this one individual,” Moore told NPR. “The language that Sen. Sanders, finds so disturbing — ‘stands condemned’ — is language right out of the New Testament.”