Senators Grill Judge Gorsuch Again as the Nominee Concludes His Testimony

Judge Neil Gorsuch took the witness stand before the Senate Judiciary Committee again Wednesday, as senators asked the Supreme Court nominee a second round of questions in an open session before moving to a closed session in the evening.

What came up?

The issue of judicial independence — whether justices should be influenced by political parties or take the positions of the presidents who appoint them into consideration — emerged again in day two of Gorsuch’s testimony. He reiterated that attacks on the integrity of federal judges based on their rulings are "disheartening and demoralizing" and that he’d have no issue ruling against the Trump administration if the facts of a case merited it.

Wednesday’s hearing delivered a new line of questioning thanks to a freshly issued ruling from the very court that Gorsuch hopes to be confirmed to. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously to overturn a decision made by Gorsuch’s court, the Tenth Circuit, in a case related to special education programs at public schools. Gorsuch said that the Tenth Circuit had used settled precedent from prior cases decided at the Circuit Court and Supreme Court level to reach its unanimous decision, but added that "the Supreme Court is our boss."

Gorsuch also worked to avoid discussing the "cases and controversies" he was presented with as hypotheticals by committee Democrats that were similar in nature to actual cases making their way through the court system. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) noted during an exchange with Gorsuch that if the nominee were to say too much about a case during the hearing that he could put himself in a position where he has to recuse himself from rendering a decision on it were it to reach his docket. Gorsuch agreed with that assessment, saying that he’d prepared by studying the confirmation hearings of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who had made similar efforts to avoid offering their opinions on potential cases or issues.

Given that the Judiciary Committee’s 20 senators ended up spending more than 20 hours questioning Gorsuch over a two day period, there bound to be additional moments of levity. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) asked a question suggested by one of his children about whether Gorsuch would prefer to fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck, and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) discussed the judge’s passion for fly-fishing. Gorsuch’s role in the confirmation hearing concluded after he offered the following statement.

What’s next?

Thursday is expected to be the final day of confirmation hearings, although Gorsuch himself will not be taking the stand. A panel representing the American Bar Association will lead off the hearing, offering a customary assessment as to whether a nominee to the Supreme Court is "well qualified," “qualified,” or “not qualified” based on their career in law. Following their testimony, the committee will proceed through three 10-person panels evenly divided between witnesses for the majority and minority. The Judiciary Committee plans to cast their vote on Gorsuch’s nomination on April 3.

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— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Joe Ravi / Creative Commons)