Skip to main content

Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's pick to the fill the Supreme Court slot left open after the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia, was sworn in this morning, becoming the 113th person to serve on the Supreme Court.

Gorsuch's confirmation is a victory for President Trump, who has struggled to achieve his campaign promises of a travel ban from predominantly Muslim countries and health care reform.

At a public ceremony at the Rose Garden at White House today, Trump said of Gorsuch's taking a seat on the Supreme Court, "I can say this is a great honor. And I got it done in the first 100 days. That's even nice. You think that's easy."

With Gorsuch, 49, on the court, it is back to its previous balance: four conservatives, four liberals and Justice Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote.

"To my new colleagues and the staff of the Supreme Court, thank you for the very warm welcome. I look forward to many happy years together," Gorsuch said at the Rose Garden with Trump beaming behind him.

 

 

Kennedy administered the oath of office for Gorsuch as his wife, Marie Louise Gorsuch, held the family Bible. The couple's two daughters and Scalia's widow were present for the ceremony. Gorsuch was previously sworn in behind closed doors at the Supreme Court building this morning.

"To the Scalia family, I won't ever forget that the seat I inherit today is that of a very, very great man," Gorsuch said.

 


 

It has taken more than a year of bitter partisan fighting to get to this day. President Obama quickly nominated federal Judge Merrick Garland on March 16, 2016, to fill the vacancy. But Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to consider Garland in the Senate, arguing that the next president should choose the nominee.

But many Democrats argued that Gorsuch's record was too conservative and that he failed to answer key questions about his judicial record during his Senate hearing last month. Many were still upset over Republicans' refusal to bring Garland's nomination up for a vote.

Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate in a bruising fight after McConnell invoked the so-called nuclear option, which allowed Republicans to end debate with a simple majority, rather than the traditional minimum of 60 votes, and push through the nomination.

Trump gave a shout-out to McConnell, saying, "I especially want to express our gratitude to Sen. Mitch McConnell for all that he did to make this achievement possible."

Gorsuch was a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. He attended Harvard Law School and has a Ph.D. from Oxford, where he was a Marshall scholar. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2006 and confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote.

Today had an element of historic significance: Kennedy is the first Supreme Court  justice to serve with his or her former law clerk.

"This is a very, very special moment because many years ago, a young Neil Gorsuch started his legal career as a law clerk to Justice Kennedy," Trump said, adding that it's "a fitting testament to Justice Kennedy's impact."

Gorsuch's first big case will be when the Supreme Court hears arguments this month in a case about government funding and religious organizations.

ABC News' Mary Bruce and Audrey Taylor contributed to this report.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Excerpts:

WASHINGTON — For euphemism, dissimulation and outright hypocrisy, there is nothing quite as entertaining as the periodic Senate dust-ups over Supreme Court appointments and the filibuster. The arguments for and against the filibuster are so well-known to both parties as to be practically memorized. Both nonetheless argue their case with great shows of passion and conviction. Then shamelessly switch sides — and scripts — depending on the ideology of the nominee.

Everyone appeals to high principle, when everyone knows these fights are about raw power. When Democrat Harry Reid had the majority in the Senate and Barack Obama in the White House, he abolished the filibuster in 2013 for sub-Supreme Court judicial appointments in order to pack three liberal judges onto the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Bad karma, bad precedent, he was warned. Republicans would one day be in charge. That day is here and Republicans have just stopped a Democratic filibuster of Neil Gorsuch by extending the Reid Rule to the Supreme Court.

 

The Gorsuch nomination is a bitter setback to the liberal project of using the courts to ratchet leftward the law and society. However, Gorsuch’s appointment simply preserves the court’s ideological balance of power. Wait for the next nomination. Having gratuitously forfeited the filibuster, Democrats will be facing the loss of the court for a generation.

Condign punishment indeed.

 

http://www.heraldextra.com/new...e9d2cbf556d.amp.html

Crash.Override posted:

the standard set by the republiCONs will now be the 'norm' for these situations.... imagine how furious you rt. wingnuts are gonna be when the roles are reversed.. and they will be reversed, soon.  you will have NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOUR OWN PARTY.

The Supreme Court is for life, not much action there, but what
punch drunk harrie weed did for our senate is everyday stuff.

10/24/16

 

Reid: 'I have set the Senate' for nuclear option

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is predicting a Democratic-majority Senate next year could break out the "nuclear option" to change the rules on Supreme Court nominations. 

The outgoing Democratic leader told Talking Points Memo that he's paved the way for what would be a historic change of the Senate's rules, allowing Supreme Court nominees to bypass a 60-vote procedural requirement and be approved by a simple majority.
I really do believe that I have set the Senate so when I leave, we’re going to be able to get judges done with a majority," he said. "It’s clear to me that if the Republicans try to filibuster another circuit court judge, but especially a Supreme Court justice, I’ve told 'em how and I’ve done it, not just talking about it. I did it in changing the rules of the Senate. It’ll have to be done again." 
 
Reid's comments come as Senate Republicans have refused to give Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing or a vote for more than eight months. They argue that the vacancy from Justice Antonin Scalia's death should be filled by the president's successor. 
 
Reid, who has previously floated changing the rules in 2017, added to TPM that if Republicans "mess with the Supreme Court, it'll be changed just like that in my opinion. So I’ve set that up. I feel very comfortable with that.”
 
In 2013 Senate Democrats changed the filibuster rules on most of Obama's nominees, allowing them to get approved by a simple majority, but left the 60-vote hurdle intact for Supreme Court nominations. 
 
However, the 2013 shift — the most significant change to Senate floor procedure in decades — has sparked years of backlash from Republicans, who warned that it undercuts a minority party's ability to block a president's nomination. 
 
Democrats have repeatedly blasted GOP leadership for ignoring Garland's nomination but face an uphill battle to get his nomination through the Senate. Under current Senate rules they would need 60 votes — meaning Republican support — to get Garland approved this year. 
 
With Reid retiring, any push to change the filibuster rules if Democrats win back the Senate would have to come from Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is expected to be the next Democratic leader. 
 
The New Yorker's office declined to comment Monday on Reid's remarks. 
 
Schumer also sidestepped a question about a potential rules change on Supreme Court nominations earlier this month, telling CNBC's John Harwood, "I hope we won't get to that. And I'll leave it at that." 

Add Reply

Post

Untitled Document
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×