Dueling law professors analyze the Neil Gorsuch confirmation hearing

The first day of the hearings Monday will feature opening statements from senators and Gorsuch himself, according to the Associated Press.

Hatch spent the past two months making the case for Gorsuch in speeches on the Senate floor, town halls meetings, and national and local media appearances.

Approval is virtually assured, moving the nomination to the full Senate. During the presidency of Democrat Jimmy Carter, the EPA determined that the “source” could be any piece of equipment; the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan later said that “source” meant the entire plant.

Some Democrats have said Republicans “stole” a Supreme Court seat previous year when the Senate refused to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Scalia, appellate judge Merrick Garland.

A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blumenthal will be questioning Gorsuch at his confirmation hearing this week. That is a step some senators are reluctant to take. Gorsuch added that he treats all people in his courtroom as individuals who merit equal justice, and when Durbin asked if that extended to people of different sexual orientations, Gorsuch said, “The Supreme Court of the United States has held that single-sex marriage is protected by the Constitution”.

But others staked out ground against his confirmation, whether over his past decisions or that he’s Trump’s nominee.

But that could prompt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to follow the precedent set by his Democratic predecessor, Harry Reid of Nevada, and invoke what is known as the Senate “nuclear option” that allows a majority to work its will despite Senate traditions.

It is unclear what the Democrats will do. Pressed by Graham on whether Trump could be subject to prosecution, Gorsuch said “No man is above the law, no man“. Grassley won reelection with 60 percent of the vote. The closest to Scalia is Justice Thomas Rex Lee, the associate chief justice on the Utah Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg just turned 84. Shapiro clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer in 1996 and 1997. The court’s frequent swing vote, conservative Anthony Kennedy, is 80.

When asked by Sen.

More than a year after Antonin Scalia’s death left a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the Senate Judiciary Committee is finally ready to consider a candidate to replace him.

Barack Obama, the then-president, was blocked from nominating his choice of judge, Merrick Garland – something which infuriated the Democrats, because the judges serve for life and have the ultimate say on fundamental issues of American life.

Asked by CNN what the consequences would be if those red-state Democrats block Gorsuch, Alexander responded gently: “I think the effect would be that independent voters, centrist voters who put them into office, would take a second look when they run for re-election”.