“I never really focused on religious beliefs. They are really, in my view, irrelevant to her qualification,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who’s a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday. “Everybody’s entitled to believe or practice and worship as they like. My focus is on substantive issues.”

But asked if her religious views should be off-limits if Barrett comes before the committee again, Sen. Mazie Hirono said: “No.”

“Look, it wasn’t her religious views — it’s anybody’s views that they bring to their decision making,” said Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who’s also a member of the committee. “So they keep telling us that none of the things they wrote or said yesterday should infringe on their decision, but how can we be assured that they can be objective? … Why should we say you get a lifetime appointment so that you can reflect your ideological agenda in your decision making?”

Asked if she would pursue that line of questioning again, Feinstein declined to say: “I’m not going to go there.” She added, “Let’s wait till she’s nominated,” when asked how Democrats would target a Barrett nomination.