This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/judge-gorsuch-supreme-court-confirmation-hearings.html
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Garland’s Name Is Invoked Frequently at Gorsuch Hearing | Garland’s Name Is Invoked Frequently at Gorsuch Hearing |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ■ The Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch is underway, but based on the statements of Democrats, one might think it was about the man who might have been: Judge Merrick B. Garland. | |
| ■ Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, laid out a schedule for a vote on President Trump’s nominee for two weeks from today. That could lead to a floor vote later that week, the timetable Republicans intend to meet. | |
| ■ Though much of the week will focus on Judge Gorsuch’s parrying of questions from senators, his first day is more of an introduction — a chance to cast himself as a fair-minded and dispassionate jurist and to set the tone for the days that follow. Democrats may supply a counternarrative. | ■ Though much of the week will focus on Judge Gorsuch’s parrying of questions from senators, his first day is more of an introduction — a chance to cast himself as a fair-minded and dispassionate jurist and to set the tone for the days that follow. Democrats may supply a counternarrative. |
| Here are the highlights so far: | |
| Three Democratic senators, three opening statements that began with a focus on the judge who never made it to this room: Judge Merrick B. Garland. | |
| Democrats were always expected to highlight Republicans’ refusal to even meet with President Barack Obama’s nominee last year. But the frequency and ferocity of their attacks were notable out of the gate. | |
| Amid the complaints about last year’s process, Democrats on Monday described themselves as taking the high road now. Meeting with Judge Gorsuch and participating in the hearing, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois said, represented “a courtesy which Senate Republicans denied to Judge Garland.” | |
| Mr. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, opened the hearing by suggesting that Democrats’ concern about an independent judiciary under Mr. Trump sound familiar to critics of the Obama administration. | Mr. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, opened the hearing by suggesting that Democrats’ concern about an independent judiciary under Mr. Trump sound familiar to critics of the Obama administration. |
| “Some of my colleagues seem to have rediscovered an appreciation for the need to confine each branch of government to its constitutional sphere,” Mr. Grassley said. “I don’t question the sincerity of those concerns. Some of us have been alarmed by executive overreach, and the threat it poses to the separation of powers.” | “Some of my colleagues seem to have rediscovered an appreciation for the need to confine each branch of government to its constitutional sphere,” Mr. Grassley said. “I don’t question the sincerity of those concerns. Some of us have been alarmed by executive overreach, and the threat it poses to the separation of powers.” |
| Mr. Grassley will also praise Judge Gorsuch as a nominee “whose grasp on the separation of powers, including judicial independence, enlivens his body of work.” | Mr. Grassley will also praise Judge Gorsuch as a nominee “whose grasp on the separation of powers, including judicial independence, enlivens his body of work.” |
| In her opening statement, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s top Democrat, turned immediately to the plight of Judge Garland, whose nomination by Mr. Obama languished for nearly 10 months, and never received a hearing. | |
| “We’re here today under very unusual circumstances,” she said. “Merrick Garland was widely regarded as a mainstream moderate nominee,” she added. | |
| Regardless, Ms. Feinstein said, the committee’s task was now “to determine whether Judge Gorsuch is a reasonable mainstream conservative, or is he not?” | Regardless, Ms. Feinstein said, the committee’s task was now “to determine whether Judge Gorsuch is a reasonable mainstream conservative, or is he not?” |
| She ticked off several areas of interest, including abortion and voting rights, and mentioned a few cases from Judge Gorsuch’s record. These included a case involving a truck driver who was fired after abandoning his cargo for his own safety in subzero temperatures; Judge Gorsuch argued in a dissent that the company was permitted to fire him. | She ticked off several areas of interest, including abortion and voting rights, and mentioned a few cases from Judge Gorsuch’s record. These included a case involving a truck driver who was fired after abandoning his cargo for his own safety in subzero temperatures; Judge Gorsuch argued in a dissent that the company was permitted to fire him. |
| Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, does not have to vote for Mr. Gorsuch just because he will be introducing him at the confirmation hearing. But his presence at the hearing underscores the difficult position Mr. Bennet is in. | |
| Because of Democrats’ anger over the treatment of Judge Garland’s nomination by Republicans, he is caught in a pincher between pressure to support his fellow Coloradan and his party loyalties. | |
| Democratic senators are facing pressure to mount a filibuster that would force Republicans to change the chamber’s rules in order to confirm Judge Gorsuch. To overcome a filibuster without changing the rules, Republicans need to persuade at least eight Democrats to break ranks with their party — and interest groups on both sides are pushing Senator Bennet. A vote for the nominee could play well with more centrist voters back home, but draw the ire of progressives there and across the country. And Mr. Bennet is seen as someone who could have a future as a national Democratic figure. | |
| Adding to his awkward position, Judge Gorsuch’s career and rise were aided by his ties to Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, and Senator Bennet himself used to work for Mr. Anschutz. Against that backdrop, Senator Bennet has been studiously ambiguous about how he will vote on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, saying he wants to see what the judge says in his hearing before he decides what he will do. He will be one of the most closely watched Democrats on the nomination. | Adding to his awkward position, Judge Gorsuch’s career and rise were aided by his ties to Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, and Senator Bennet himself used to work for Mr. Anschutz. Against that backdrop, Senator Bennet has been studiously ambiguous about how he will vote on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, saying he wants to see what the judge says in his hearing before he decides what he will do. He will be one of the most closely watched Democrats on the nomination. |
| In recent weeks, Mr. Trump’s cabinet nominees have not always seemed entirely prepared for their congressional hearings. That’s unlikely to be the case with Judge Gorsuch. | |
| Appraised even by skeptics as gifted and poised, Judge Gorsuch has been in deep preparations for weeks, including meetings with 72 senators, by his team’s count. The centerpiece of Monday’s proceedings will be his opening statement before the Judiciary Committee, his first meaningful public remarks since the evening of his nomination. | Appraised even by skeptics as gifted and poised, Judge Gorsuch has been in deep preparations for weeks, including meetings with 72 senators, by his team’s count. The centerpiece of Monday’s proceedings will be his opening statement before the Judiciary Committee, his first meaningful public remarks since the evening of his nomination. |
| That initial speech, delivered from the White House beside Mr. Trump, may offer some clues to his strategy. It included soaring paeans to the judiciary — talk of the need for “impartiality and independence, collegiality and courage” — as well as choice bits of biography and humor. | That initial speech, delivered from the White House beside Mr. Trump, may offer some clues to his strategy. It included soaring paeans to the judiciary — talk of the need for “impartiality and independence, collegiality and courage” — as well as choice bits of biography and humor. |
| He spoke of working for Justice Byron R. White, a fellow Coloradan who was also an all-American halfback at the University of Colorado and a Rhodes Scholar. Judge Gorsuch noted, to laughs, that Justice White was “the only justice to lead the N.F.L. in rushing.” | He spoke of working for Justice Byron R. White, a fellow Coloradan who was also an all-American halfback at the University of Colorado and a Rhodes Scholar. Judge Gorsuch noted, to laughs, that Justice White was “the only justice to lead the N.F.L. in rushing.” |
| His opening remarks on Monday are expected to last about 10 minutes. | His opening remarks on Monday are expected to last about 10 minutes. |
| By nominating a plainly qualified judge, Mr. Trump has forced Democrats to reckon with the kind of obstructionism they long condemned from Republicans. While several members have already said they would vote against Judge Gorsuch, the prospect of an institution-rattling fight has concerned some more moderate Democrats, particularly those who face re-election in states that Mr. Trump won. | By nominating a plainly qualified judge, Mr. Trump has forced Democrats to reckon with the kind of obstructionism they long condemned from Republicans. While several members have already said they would vote against Judge Gorsuch, the prospect of an institution-rattling fight has concerned some more moderate Democrats, particularly those who face re-election in states that Mr. Trump won. |
| If Judge Gorsuch cannot meet the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster, Republicans could change longstanding rules and elevate him on a simple majority vote. | If Judge Gorsuch cannot meet the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster, Republicans could change longstanding rules and elevate him on a simple majority vote. |
| In the hearings, if recent history is a guide, some of the sharpest questioning might come from Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, whose approach at the cabinet hearings produced several memorable moments. (These included coaxing Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general, to say he had not had “communications with the Russians” during the presidential campaign, despite Mr. Sessions’s since-divulged contacts with the Russian ambassador.) | In the hearings, if recent history is a guide, some of the sharpest questioning might come from Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, whose approach at the cabinet hearings produced several memorable moments. (These included coaxing Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general, to say he had not had “communications with the Russians” during the presidential campaign, despite Mr. Sessions’s since-divulged contacts with the Russian ambassador.) |
| So far, objections to Judge Gorsuch — which have gotten little traction to date — have generally come in two forms from Democrats: His record suggests a bias toward corporate interests, they argue, and … | So far, objections to Judge Gorsuch — which have gotten little traction to date — have generally come in two forms from Democrats: His record suggests a bias toward corporate interests, they argue, and … |
| … He has failed to demonstrate sufficient independence from the judiciary-bashing president who chose him. From the beginning, Mr. Trump has put Judge Gorsuch in a difficult spot, leveling explosive attacks against judges who have thwarted his executive orders seeking to ban travel from certain predominantly Muslim countries. | … He has failed to demonstrate sufficient independence from the judiciary-bashing president who chose him. From the beginning, Mr. Trump has put Judge Gorsuch in a difficult spot, leveling explosive attacks against judges who have thwarted his executive orders seeking to ban travel from certain predominantly Muslim countries. |
| In meetings with senators, Judge Gorsuch called such attacks on the judiciary “disheartening,” but he has declined to address the issue publicly. | In meetings with senators, Judge Gorsuch called such attacks on the judiciary “disheartening,” but he has declined to address the issue publicly. |
| Given the anti-Trump fervor gripping the progressive left, Democrats may feel compelled to make the hearings as much a referendum on the president as his nominee. How Judge Gorsuch navigates this tension — and how forcefully he chooses to break with Mr. Trump, if at all — could determine his fate with several senators on the committee and in the full Senate vote. | Given the anti-Trump fervor gripping the progressive left, Democrats may feel compelled to make the hearings as much a referendum on the president as his nominee. How Judge Gorsuch navigates this tension — and how forcefully he chooses to break with Mr. Trump, if at all — could determine his fate with several senators on the committee and in the full Senate vote. |
| Look for him to create at least some gentle distance from Mr. Trump, a man whose approval he already secured when it mattered. | Look for him to create at least some gentle distance from Mr. Trump, a man whose approval he already secured when it mattered. |
| Opening a new line of attack, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, said Mr. Gorsuch was “selected by interest groups.” It is true that the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, played a leading role in drawing up Mr. Trump’s lists of potential nominees and in narrowing the list to a single finalist. | |
| In his Senate questionnaire, Judge Gorsuch was asked to describe who had first contacted him from the White House about the possibility that he would be elevated to the Supreme Court. | In his Senate questionnaire, Judge Gorsuch was asked to describe who had first contacted him from the White House about the possibility that he would be elevated to the Supreme Court. |
| “I was contacted by Leonard Leo,” he said, referring to an exceptionally influential executive vice president of the Federalist Society. | |
| The professor with cancer. The freezing trucker. The craft-store chain with the rhyming name. | The professor with cancer. The freezing trucker. The craft-store chain with the rhyming name. |
| For weeks, Democrats have been sifting through Judge Gorsuch’s judicial history, girding for hearing-room confrontations that might trip him up. Among the cases they are expected to highlight: | For weeks, Democrats have been sifting through Judge Gorsuch’s judicial history, girding for hearing-room confrontations that might trip him up. Among the cases they are expected to highlight: |
| ■ The so-called Hobby Lobby case, in which Judge Gorsuch voted in favor of the chain after it objected to regulations requiring employers to provide free contraception coverage. | ■ The so-called Hobby Lobby case, in which Judge Gorsuch voted in favor of the chain after it objected to regulations requiring employers to provide free contraception coverage. |
| ■ The saga of a truck driver fired for abandoning his cargo for his own safety in subzero temperatures; Judge Gorsuch argued in a dissent that the company was permitted to fire him. | ■ The saga of a truck driver fired for abandoning his cargo for his own safety in subzero temperatures; Judge Gorsuch argued in a dissent that the company was permitted to fire him. |
| ■ The struggles of a professor whose discrimination claim Judge Gorsuch denied after she lost her job upon taking time off to recover from cancer. | ■ The struggles of a professor whose discrimination claim Judge Gorsuch denied after she lost her job upon taking time off to recover from cancer. |