Two Florida Supreme Court justices are poised for a smooth U.S. Senate confirmation to seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after a speedy Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.

Justices Barbara Lagoa and Andrew J. Luck, who both practiced in Miami, faced little pushback from committee members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during their confirmation hearing as they fielded questions about judicial activism and how they would approach precedent as members of the federal judiciary.

President Donald Trump tapped both justices last month for seats on the Atlanta-based circuit bench. That announcement came shortly after speculation began that the circuit would shift to the right as Judges Stanley Marcus and Gerald Tjoflat take senior status.

A handful of committee Democrats — Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker — were at the Democratic presidential debate in Ohio Tuesday night and did not attend the hearing. Sen. Chris Coons, another member of the panel, also attended the debate and did not question the nominees.

Committee Republicans took the lead, asking the nominees about what they believed to be a "judicial activist" and how they might interpret the U.S. Constitution as they review federal laws.

"The definition of a judicial activist is a judge who rules based on their personal preference or policy preference regardless of what the law calls for," Lagoa said.

Lagoa said there have been times when she personally disagreed with an opinion she wrote but felt bound by what statutes say in issuing her rulings.

When asked about how legislative history should be used in rulings, Luck said he struggles with using legislative history as a main point in determining the intent of a statute because a single statement by one lawmaker is not necessarily approved by Congress.

"The text is what is passed by the Congress," he said.

Committee chairman Lindsey Graham also noted both nominees, as members of an appeals court, could have the opportunity to overturn precedent.

"If somebody is challenging precedent, you'll give them their day in court?" Graham asked. Both nominees said they "absolutely" would.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the few Democrats to question the nominees, applauded Lagoa's nomination. He noted the significance of appointing a Latina woman to counter a lack of diversity on the federal bench.

"The fact of the matter is only 6.6% of federal judges are of Latino or Hispanic heritage or descent," Blumenthal said. "In a country where more than 18% of our population is Latino or Hispanic, we should be doing more to attract nominees with that qualification."

Lagoa also invoked her parents' experience fleeing Cuba as guiding her judicial interpretations.

"Unlike the country my parents fled, we are a nation of laws, not of men," Lagoa said.

Lagoa also gave her father-in-law, U.S. District Judge Paul Huck of the Southern District of Florida, a shout-out during her opening statement, saying she has looked to him as "a model of what a judge should be."

The state justice referred to her parents' experience again when Sen. Ted Cruz asked the nominees why judges should uphold the original meaning of the Constitution when it was written by "people who have been dead for 200 years."

Luck said that if judges stray from the original meaning of the Constitution, it could open the door to a wide range of perspectives on the law, which "means every single person has a different way of viewing something" and create confusion for litigants.

And Lagoa said she believes it's important to uphold the original meanings to make sure the law is evenly applied over time, which she said was not the case in Cuba.

"To paraphrase 'Jerry Maguire,' you had me at 'this is not Cuba,' " Cruz joked.

"You had me at hello," Graham added.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias noted the committee review process was rushed. The White House formally sent the nominations to the Senate on Tuesday, and the hearing was abbreviated because senators were needed for 11 a.m. floor votes.

Assuming both are confirmed by the full Senate, the Eleventh Circuit will switch to judges nominated by Republican presidents.

Luck was nominated to the federal bench less than 13 years after he was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2006. He clerked for Chief Circuit Judge Ed Carnes, became a Miami-Dade Circuit judge in 2013, was elevated to the Third District Court of Appeal in 2017 and joined the Supreme Court in January.

Lagoa served on the Third DCA from 2006 until she was elevated to the Supreme Court in January.