Gorsuch: I Accept Roe v. Wade as ‘the Law of the Land’

Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2017, for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I know the men and women of the federal judiciary”. Hirono said that the hearing over Gorsuch’s nomination was about “people in this country who are getting screwed every single stinking minute and hour of the day”.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of SC disagreed with Feinstein’s queries. I will say this: “It will go back to the states, and the states will then make a determination”, Trump said at the time.

“I have no difficulty ruling for or against any party, other than what the law and the facts in a particular case require”, Gorsuch replied.

Feinstein: “So you agree with it?”

When I met with Judge Gorsuch on February 7, I sought to ascertain his potential to be an independent check on the president.

President Donald Trump’s nominee for the nation’s highest court is being asked about issues as contentious as abortion but also about the current political climate.

Little new ground was plowed during the second round of questioning, with Gorsuch consistently refusing to answer questions regarding issues that may wind up before the Supreme Court. Mr McConnell would need eight Democrats to get Mr Gorsuch over procedural hurdles – the only apparent way Democrats can try and block the nomination – to a final confirmation vote. Gorsuch told Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. – who is anxious that he would vote to restrict abortion- that “no one is looking to return us to horse and buggy days”.

The proceedings will open with a 10-minute statement from Gorsuch, where he’ll deliver his first public remarks since appearing alongside Trump when his nomination was announced. 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.

Gorsuch throughout his hearings has sought to paint himself as a fair and independent judge.

“Feinstein, the committee’s senior Democrat, summed up her colleagues” frustration.

Republicans are united behind the nominee.

As the above chart shows, Gorsuch is expected to occupy approximately the same ideological space as Scalia if confirmed.

Sasse, a Republican, expects Democrats and interest groups to mount an aggressive opposition to Gorsuch’s confirmation.

If they do, their options are limited.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley is pushing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to support putting cameras in the courtroom. The committee’s Senator Dick Durbin says “I believe the independence of our judicial system, and especially the Supreme Court, is more critical now than at any time in recent history“.