Sen. Susan Collins said Thursday she’s “certainly impressed” with Judge Neil Gorsuch and she’s confident he’ll be an independent voice but that she wants to wait for his confirmation hearing before deciding whether to vote for him to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It was a good meeting. We covered a lot of issues. … I was left very impressed with him and looking forward to his hearing before the Judiciary Committee,” Ms. Collins, Maine Republican, told reporters on Capitol Hill after meeting with Judge Gorsuch.
Ms. Collins also said she didn’t ask about apparent comments Judge Gorsuch made to other senators that he was unhappy with President Trump’s recent commentary on the judiciary.
“The judge clearly outlined his respect for the judiciary — his willingness to be a check on the executive branch. I did not ask him about his comments in his conversations with other senators because he’s already put out a statement that makes very clear that he feels that [it is] a mistake for anyone to attack an individual judge’s integrity,” she said.
“I am confident that Judge Gorsuch … will be an independent judge. He already is an independent judge, as I have come to understand by reviewing several of his rulings,” she said.
Ms. Collins said she is “certainly impressed” with Judge Gorsuch but that she’d wait for his hearing before deciding whether or not to vote for him. She was one of two Republican senators to vote against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was confirmed earlier this week.
After Judge James Robart temporarily halted the president’s immigration executive order last week, the president had tweeted: “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!”
Ms. Collins said Thursday she thinks it’s “inappropriate” for any president to go after a judge like that, pointing out that she also disagreed when Mr. Trump said last year he didn’t think an Indiana-born judge could give him a fair hearing in a fraud case because of the judge’s Mexican heritage.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, and several other senators have said Judge Gorsuch expressed concern about the president’s recent commentary on the judicial branch in their meetings with him.
Some Democrats are now speculating that those private comments from Judge Gorsuch were part of a grand plan by the administration to allow him to stake out his independence from Mr. Trump.
Mr. Blumenthal said Thursday on MSNBC that Judge Gorsuch, without prompting, said he should feel free to talk publicly about what he said in their meeting.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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