Gorsuch Has Received Widespread Acclaim from Both Sides of the Aisle
‘In the years since Judge Gorsuch’s unopposed Senate confirmation, he’s shown himself to be the very kind of judge everyone hoped he’d be — one who demonstrates the ‘sense of fairness and impartiality’ that Democratic then-Senator Salazar lauded him for in 2006, which Salazar called “keystone for being a judge.”’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the support Judge Neil Gorsuch has received from both Republicans and Democrats:
“I was surprised by a statement my friend the Democratic leader made here yesterday. I’m glad he came back to the floor to correct himself though. I think we all appreciated the Democratic Leader making clear that Republicans did not — let me repeat, did not — insist on 60-vote thresholds for either of President Obama’s two first-term Supreme Court nominees. We thank the Democratic leader for clearing that up.
“His statement also reminds us all that both of the Supreme Court justices President Clinton nominated got a straight up-or-down vote too. There’s no reason someone like Judge Gorsuch — who’s received widespread acclaim from both sides of the aisle — should be treated differently now.
“When he was nominated to his current seat on the Court of Appeals, Judge Gorsuch received the American Bar Association’s highest possible rating, ‘unanimously well-qualified.’ At his confirmation hearing, no one had a single negative word to say about him. At his confirmation vote, no one cast a negative vote against him: not then-Senator Obama, not then-Senators Clinton, Biden, or Kennedy, not my good friend Senator Schumer either. Judge Gorsuch was confirmed in exceptionally fast time for a Court of Appeals nominee too, just two months.
“So you have to wonder, if this nominee was so non-controversial in 2006 that a roll-call vote wasn’t even required, what could possibly have changed since to justify threats of extraordinary treatment now? If the Democratic leader or anyone else in his Conference didn’t raise a concern in committee or cast a single negative vote then, let alone even ask for a roll-call vote, what could possibly justify these so-called ‘grave concerns’ he claims to have now?
“Professor Laurence Tribe, President Obama’s law school mentor, called Judge Gorsuch a ‘brilliant, terrific guy who would do the Court's work with distinction.’ This is Laurence Tribe, the president’s Constitutional law professor, one of the best known liberal professors in the country.
“Neil Katyal, President Obama’s top Supreme Court lawyer, lauded Judge Gorsuch as ‘one of the most thoughtful and brilliant judges to have served our nation over the last century.’ That’s President Obama’s Supreme Court lawyer.
“The left-leaning Denver Post recently highlighted Judge Gorsuch’s reputation as ‘a brilliant legal mind’ who applies the law ‘fairly and consistently.’ And, I’m happy to report, we’ve even been assured by liberal talk show host, Rachel Maddow, that Gorsuch is ‘a relatively mainstream choice.’
“Turns out, in the years since Judge Gorsuch’s unopposed Senate confirmation, he’s shown himself to be the very kind of judge everyone hoped he’d be — one who demonstrates the ‘sense of fairness and impartiality’ that Democratic then-Senator Salazar lauded him for in 2006, which Salazar called ‘keystone for being a judge.’
“That was Judge Neil Gorsuch’s reputation back then, and it is his richly-deserved reputation still, as those in both parties who’ve known and worked with him continue to tell us. As one Democrat and Denver Attorney put it, Judge Gorsuch: is ‘smart [and] he's independent.’
"The things we’ve heard from so many about Judge Gorsuch — smart and independent…fair and impartial…thoughtful and brilliant — are just the qualities we should expect in our next Supreme Court justice. They are the same qualities I’m confident Judge Gorsuch would bring to the Court.”
Related Issues: Judicial Nominations, Supreme Court, Nominations
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