Coons told reporters after his call with Barrett that she did not commit to recusing herself from cases related to the upcoming election. President Donald Trump has publicly suggested that the Senate needs to confirm Barrett before Nov. 3 to ensure that there are nine justices on the court, in the event of a disputed election.

“She made no commitment to recusal,” Coons said. “She went through what the factors are for recusal and said it would essentially depend on the circumstances for any judge to make any recusal decision.”

Whitehouse, meanwhile, said he spoke to Barrett in order to “plant a seed of awareness” about the influence of dark money and the impact that groups like The Federalist Society and the Judicial Crisis Network have on the Supreme Court.

“I wanted the call because I wanted to walk her through the case of how these entities that are all around the court are funded and what it is that they seek to accomplish through the influence they are extending over the court,” Whitehouse said in an interview.