By Robert Barnes and Ed O ' Keefe
March 21 at 7 :42 PM
Judge Neil Gorsuch stressed his independence
and defended the integrity of the federal
judiciary Tuesday as the Senate hearings on
his Supreme Court nomination turned on the
search for his judicial philosophy and what
one senator called “ the elephant in the room”
— President Trump .
From the first question from a friendly
Republican to a grilling by a Democrat hours
later , Gorsuch was called upon on the second
day of what is expected to be four days of
hearings to state his impartiality and
reassure senators he would not be swayed by
political pressure if he wins confirmation ,
which appeared even more likely after his
marathon session .
Gorsuch reiterated in public what he had told
many senators in private — that he is
offended by attacks like the ones leveled by
President Trump against federal judges who
have ruled in the past year in cases involving
him.
“ When anyone criticizes the honesty or the
integrity or the motives of a federal judge , I
find that disheartening. I find that
demoralizing — because I know the truth , ”
Gorsuch told Sen . Richard Blumenthal ( D-
Conn. ) .
“ Anyone including the president of the
United States ?” Blumenthal asked , who had
made the elephant - in - the - room comment .
“ Anyone is anyone , ” Gorsuch said .
Gorsuch declined , however , to comment
specifically on Trump ’ s various critical
comments about federal judges , including an
Indiana - born judge of Mexican descent who
handled a federal court challenge to an
online university bearing Trump ’ s name , or
the president ’ s recent comments about a “ so -
called” judge who ruled against his attempts
to ban travelers from Muslim - dominant
countries .
“ I ’ ve gone as far as I can go ethically , ”
Gorsuch told Blumenthal .
It was a dramatic moment in a day that for
the most part lacked color. Gorsuch refused
to be pinned down on most of the issues that
Democrats raised : his allegiance to Roe v .
Wade, his views on money in politics , the
extent of the Second Amendment .
He portrayed what Democrats saw as
controversial rulings in his 10 years on the
U. S . Court of Appeals for the 10 th Circuit in
Denver as authentic attempts to interpret the
laws that Congress writes.
“ If we got it wrong , I ’ m very sorry , but we
did our level best , ” he said about a decision
criticized by Sen . Richard J. Durbin ( D- Ill . ) ,
but added : “ It was affirmed by the Supreme
Court. ”
Republican senators did little more than set
Gorsuch up to display an encyclopedic
knowledge of the Constitution and Supreme
Court precedent, and to allow him to stress
his roots as an outdoorsy Westerner .
“ What ’ s the largest trout you ’ ve ever
caught?” asked Sen. Jeff Flake (R - Ariz . )
Gorsuch will be at the witness table again
Wednesday as well as the fourth and final
day of hearings scheduled for Thursday
Gorsuch seemed happy at the outset of the
hearing to take what even he called the
“ softball ” question offered by Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E .
Grassley (R - Iowa) about whether he would
have any trouble ruling against Trump , the
man who nominated him.
“ I have no difficulty ruling against or for any
party other than based on what the law and
the facts of a particular case require , ”
Gorsuch told the panel . “ And I ’ m heartened
by the support I have received from people
who recognize that there ’ s no such thing as a
Republican judge or a Democratic judge —
we just have judges in this country .
“ My personal views … I leave those at home , ”
he added later .
The Columbia - Oxford - Harvard graduate
employed a homespun tone — “ gosh , ” “ golly”
and “ nope ” punctuated his answers. Corny
dad jokes fell flat, especially with the
Democratic senators .
They pressed him on abortion , gun rights ,
privacy and the protracted 2000 presidential
campaign recount . As other Supreme Court
nominees have , Gorsuch explained that it
would be improper to give his views on cases
that might come before him or to grade
decisions made in the past .
He had a tense encounter with Sen . Sheldon
Whitehouse (D- R . I . ) , who sparred with him
on issues of campaign finance and “ dark
money, ” including a $ 10 million campaign by
the group Judicial Crisis Network to advocate
for Gorsuch ’ s confirmation .
Whitehouse said the group ’ s donors do not
have to be disclosed, and he wondered what
they saw in Gorsuch that would warrant such
an expenditure.
“ You ’ d have to ask them , ” Gorsuch said .
“ I can ’ t because I don’ t know who they are , ”
Whitehouse shot back.
Democrats questioned him about his work at
former president George W . Bush ’ s Justice
Department and whether he’ d rule against
Trump ’ s travel ban .
Gorsuch declined to express his views on
Trump ’ s move to ban travelers from several
Muslim - dominant countries because “ that' s
an issue that is currently being litigated
actively . ”
When Sen. Patrick J . Leahy (D- Vt. ) mentioned
that a Republican lawmaker recently
suggested that Gorsuch would uphold
Trump ’ s ban if it came before the court,
Gorsuch snapped : “ Senator, he has no idea
how I ' d rule in that case . ”
[ Gorsuch promises independence from Trump — and
steals Democrats ’ line of attack ]
Other senators quizzed Gorsuch about
several of Trump ’ s past statements . During
the presidential campaign last year , Trump
said that he would nominate people to the
Supreme Court who would overrule Roe v .
Wade and return decisions on abortion back
to the states.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R - S . C . ) asked
Gorsuch whether Trump had asked him to do
that during his interview before his
nomination .
“ Senator, I would have walked out the door , ”
Gorsuch replied .
It was at least the second time senators had
pressed Gorsuch on what Trump had said he
was looking for in a Supreme Court justice.
Gorsuch said he does not believe in litmus
tests , and was never questioned about them .
Each senator has been allotted up to 30
minutes to question Gorsuch during the first
round of questions. A second round, likely to
begin Wednesday , gives senators an
additional 20 minutes to quiz the nominee .
The committee ’ s top Democrat , Sen. Dianne
Feinstein (Calif. ), asked about Gorsuch ’ s work
on issues involving enhanced interrogation
of suspected terrorist detainees while he
served in Bush ’ s Department of Justice .
Even though the issue has been in the news
during the past week , Gorsuch said he did
not remember a document released last week
in which he was preparing talking points for
the then - attorney general . “ Yes, ” is
handwritten next to a typed question: “ Have
the aggressive interrogation techniques
employed by the Admin yielded any valuable
intelligence?”
[ Senate Democrats want more information about
Gorsuch’ s role at DOJ ]
Feinstein said she would supply Gorsuch with
the documents for future questioning. In
general , Gorsuch portrayed himself as a
facilitator rather than a policymaker during
his 14 months at the DOJ in 2005 and 2006 .
“ I was a lawyer for a client , ” he said .
Feinstein asked about Gorsuch ’ s role in
designing a signing statement for Bush on a
detainee treatment law ; she characterized it
as indicating that the president did not feel
bound by the law he had just signed .
“ I certainly never would have counseled
anyone not to obey the law , ” Gorsuch
responded.
Gorsuch also forcefully rejected claims by
one of his former law school students that he
had suggested that women take advantage of
maternity leave policies by not telling the
truth in job interviews about their plans to
have families. Democrats seized on the
accusations when they surfaced Sunday and
vowed to ask Gorsuch about them .
When Durbin asked about the topic , Gorsuch
explained that he has taught ethics classes at
the University of Colorado Law School for
several years . Based on his years of teaching
young law students , he said that the
corporate world , particularly law firms ,
continue to treat women poorly and often
ask inappropriate questions in job interviews
that are used to weed out female applicants
who plan to have children .
Republicans intend to move quickly on
confirming the 49 - year - old Gorsuch , who sits
on the Denver - based U. S . Court of Appeals
for the 10 th Circuit. Those on the committee
hope to refer Gorsuch to the full Senate on
April 3 so that he can be confirmed before
Easter.
But Senate Minority Leader Charles E .
Schumer (D- N . Y . ) warned Republicans on
Tuesday that his party would attempt to slow
down consideration of Gorsuch because
Republicans last year blocked then - President
Barack Obama’ s attempts to fill the vacancy
created by Justice Antonin Scalia ’ s death , and
because Trump ’ s presidential campaign is the
subject of an ongoing FBI investigation .
Schumer said it seemed “ unseemly to be
moving forward so fast on confirming a
Supreme Court justice with a lifetime
appointment” due to the looming FBI
investigation , which could potentially last for
months or years .
“ You can bet that if the shoe was on the other
foot — and a Democratic president was
under investigation by the FBI — that
Republicans would be howling at the moon
about filling a Supreme Court seat in such
circumstances , ” Schumer added .
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