US President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, on Tuesday sought to assure the Senate and the nation that he would be a fair-minded and independent justice.
He said he would not hesitate to rule against Trump if the law required it, and he repeated his earlier private criticism of Trump’s attacks on judges who had ruled against the administration.
“When anyone criticizes the honesty or integrity or motives of a federal judge,” Gorsuch said at his confirmation hearing, “I find that disheartening and demoralizing.”
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Asked if that general statement applied to Trump, Gorsuch said: “Anyone is anyone.”
By turns expansive and evasive, Gorsuch discussed legal doctrines at length, but refused to take positions on specific issues.
He asserted, as have previous Supreme Court nominees, that it would be unfair to future litigants for him to announce his views on issues that could come before the court.
Gorsuch’s style was folksy, earnest, learned and emphatic, and he easily dodged questions from Senate Judiciary Committee members that he was not inclined to answer. However, he spoke forcefully about his devotion to the rule of law.
His exchanges with Democratic senators were sometimes tense and testy. Yet through every planned line of attack — from his record on workers’ rights to his skepticism of the power of regulatory agencies — Gorsuch emerged with few scratches.
In response to questions from Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, Gorsuch expressed admiration for Judge Merrick Garland, former US president Barack Obama’s nominee for the same Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of justice Antonin Scalia.
He is “an outstanding judge,” Gorsuch said.
“Whenever I see his name attached to an opinion, it’s one I read with special care,” Gorsuch said.
However, he refused to say whether Senate Republicans had mistreated Garland by refusing to consider his nomination for the better part of a year.
On other questions, Gorsuch was less reserved. For instance, he did not hesitate when asked to declare his independence from Trump.
“Specifically tell us whether you’d have any trouble ruling against the president who appointed you,” said Senator Charles Grassley, the Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee.
“That’s a softball, Mr Chairman,” Gorsuch said. “I have no difficulty ruling against or for any party, other than based on what the law and the facts and the particular case require.”
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