Sanders to oppose Trump’s court nominee

“Today the Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up four days of hearings on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch”, he reported, “The panel is expected to send the nomination to the full Senate early next month, but Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has promised to filibuster”.

“Any Democratic senator who votes for cloture for Gorsuch hurts not only their own standing, but makes the entire party look weak – dampening enthusiasm among the very voters Democrats need to fire up in 2018”. If they can’t, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republicans will have to decide whether to take the dramatic step of changing the vote threshold and essentially eliminating the filibuster.

Sen. Schumer announced he will vote against Gorsuch during a speech from the Senate floor.

“One way or the other his confirmation is all but assured by now”, he said in a statement.

If Mr Gorsuch did not get 60 votes, “the answer isn’t to change the rules, it’s to change the nominee”, Mr Schumer said.

“I will not support Republican efforts to change the rules to choke off debate and ram the nomination through the Senate”, he said. “But Judge Gorsuch seems to favor the expansion of corporate power over individual rights”, Reed said.

Republicans then considered the constitutional option-also called the “nuclear option”-to restore the 200-year-old practice of always allowing votes on judges, by ruling that filibusters apply to legislation, but not to nominations”.

Sanders joins several Democrats who are going on the record against Gorsuch’s nomination.

Senators will hear Thursday from the American Bar Association, former colleagues and judges supporting Gorsuch, and advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign that have opposed him. Aside from that case, all Supreme Court nominees of the last 47 years have received at least 60 votes. “But Judge Gorsuch didn’t convince me that he would be an independent voice on the court”. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said he, too, would vote against Trump’s chosen jurist.

After reviewing a number of the judge’s decisions in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Casey said powerful interests are disproportionately the beneficiaries “while workers, consumers and those with disabilities are the losers”.