Gorsuch Hearings Zero in on ‘Big Business vs. Little Guy’

Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, goes before the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, confident he will have the votes to be confirmed, but prepared for several days of sharp questions from angry Democrats.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, has expressed confidence that the Gorsuch nomination will slide through and has consistently expressed a distaste over invoking what has come to be known as the nuclear option – changing rules by a simple majority vote, freeing the nomination from a potential filibuster.

No doubt there will be other smears.

Neil Gorsuch was President Trump’s nominated choice to fill the empty chair on the Supreme Court and on March 20 his confirmation hearing begins.

Gorsuch emphasized the need for “neutral and independent judges to apply the law in the people’s disputes” and warned against judicial overreach.

Grassley has been a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee since 1981, his first year in the U.S. Senate. Gorsuch will face about an hour of questioning from each panel member on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Two quick thoughts, which were obvious before today.

Of the 15 most recent nominations, 13 were reported favorably. After the event with senators and progressives in front of the court last week, volunteers and staff delivered petitions with over a million signatures, they said, urging senators from both parties to oppose Gorsuch’s nomination. See here and here. Democrats on the judiciary committee said he has qualifications but questioned rulings they say favor corporate interests. Cruz finally threw his support behind Trump after getting the nominee to pledge he would only pick his Supreme Court nominee from a list of 21 judges that included Gorsuch. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., remarked to Gorsuch: “You’re going to have your hands full with this president”.

‘Judge Gorsuch outlined how law firms, and companies in general, had to ask female interviewees about pregnancy plans in order to protect the company, ‘ Sisk says.

Gorsuch is expected to be reported favorably by the Republican-led committee. In statements praising him after the nomination, key Republican lawmakers also highlighted what they called his close reading of text of the law.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Gorsuch tried to deflect some of the claims made by Democrats.

“It’s important to understand – determine whether you understand the court has a profound impact on small businesses and workers, on law enforcement and victims, on families and children across America”, Leahy said. If approved by the Senate, Mr Gorsuch would restore a narrow 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

Another Democrat now railing against Gorsuch is Wyden, D-Ore., who penned a critical statement citing Gorsuch’s stance on assisted suicide, and insinuated he could not support him this time around.

“While it has gained some popularity within conservative circles, originalism, I believe, remains outside the mainstream of moderate constitutional jurisprudence”.