Senator Dianne Feinstein says that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is unlike any other judge she has interrogated before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Democrats vowing to filibuster President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick appear to be doing so for the judge’s insistence that a fidelity to the rule of law — not personal politics — guides his decision making process in court.
The Democrat from California expressed frustration with Mr. Gorsuch’s ability to side-step politically charged inquiries less than 24 hours before Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Democrats will engage in a filibuster of the judge’s confirmation.
“You have been very much able to avoid any specificity like no one I have ever seen before,” Mrs. Feinstein said Wednesday, NBC News reported. “And maybe that’s a virtue, I don’t know. But for us on this side, knowing where you stand on major questions of the day is really important to vote aye.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina bristled at the sentiment.
“If we’re going to vote against a nominee because they won’t tell us things that we want to hear about issues important to us, then the whole nominating process has become a joke,” Mr. Graham said Wednesday.
Mr. Schumer took to the Senate floor on Thursday and said that he has decided after “careful deliberation” not to support the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judge’s nomination.
“He will have to earn 60 votes for confirmation. My vote will be ’no,’ and I urge my colleagues to do the same,” the New York Democrat said.
Republicans in the 100-member Senate hold a slim 52-48 majority over their Democratic Party counterparts. Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to close off debate on Supreme Court nominations, although a so-called nuclear option could be employed by Republican senators to remove that hurdle.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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