WASHINGTON — Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, won approval Monday on a party-line vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee, setting the stage for a filibuster showdown …
WASHINGTON — Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, won approval Monday on a party-line vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee, setting the stage for a filibuster showdown on the Senate floor later this week.
At the same meeting, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware announced he would provide the crucial 41st vote needed to support the threatened Democratic-led filibuster of Gorsuch.
The committee’s 11 Republicans all endorsed Gorsuch as a well-qualified conservative judge whose record “falls well within the mainstream,” as committee chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, put it.
All nine Democrats opposed Gorsuch. They faulted the Republican nominee for refusing to answer their questions about his views of the Constitution and about his record as a Justice Department lawyer under President George W. Bush.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said documents showed Gorsuch had defended “enhanced interrogation” techniques, including waterboarding, but then said he had no specific recollection of this during his hearings.
The sharp partisan divide was on display during the committee’s markup session. For more than four hours, the senators took turns explaining the basis for their votes.
The Republicans said they are amazed and dismayed that the Democrats would not support such a qualified nominee who pledges to follow the law. “If they oppose Neil Gorsuch, they will oppose any nominee of this president,” said Sen John Cornyn, R-Texas.
The Democrats said they saw signs Gorsuch will be a conservative activist on the bench, not a neutral judge. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R. I., predicted Gorsuch will help form “a new right-wing gang of five” that protects corporations and big-money interests at the expense of ordinary citizens.
The nomination now moves to the Senate floor, where the minority Democrats have pledged to vote against cutting off the debate. Under the current rules, it takes 60 votes to invoke “cloture” and end the filibuster.
But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he will move to change the rules so as to allow Gorsuch to win confirmation by a majority vote.
“We will not have a successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., said Monday prior to the committee vote. “Because if we have to, we will change the rules.”
