Listen to the comments thus far from most of the Democratic members on the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Neil Gorsuch. It seems clear their opposition President Trunp’s nominee is all part of the Democrats’ continuing efforts to undermine and perhaps derail the Trump presidency, the advent of which they have yet to accept.
Those efforts now even have a revealing name – “the resistance.” Indeed, as we have noted on several occasions, previous attempts by the anti-Trump forces have ranged from farcical ballot recounts to efforts to draw Electoral College voters away from Mr. Trump.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is not a member of the Judiciary Committee, seemed to set the tone for his Democratic committee members and presage what is coming. He said that while Judge Gorsuch “may act like a neutral calm judge” and “he expresses a lot of empathy and sympathy for the less powerful,” in reality he “harbors a right-wing pro-corporate, special interest agenda.”
Mr. Schumer also pointed to certain opinions Judge Gorsuch wrote in the areas of employment discrimination, special needs reimbursement energy, complex financial transactions, and claims against large companies – opinions that didn’t follow the Democratic playbook.
Yet while Judge Gorsuch seeks an extraordinarily powerful office, it is not a political one. As Pollyannaish as it might sound to suggest that judges are to impartially apply the law (or Constitution) as they understand it to the given facts of a particular case, the fact is they are really not supposed to vote their preferences as to what they would like the law (or Constitution) to be.
The Schumer complaint thus belongs in the political realm rather than judicial decision-making and should be irrelevant to Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation. But Mr. Schumer is intent on delegitimizing the man who nominated Judge Gorsuch by challenging his nominee over points of view the president likely shares.
Significantly, we have heard nothing from the Democrats about Judge Gorsuch’s credentials for the job. Probably because he is universally acclaimed for his extraordinary intelligence, knowledge of the law, judicial demeanor, and writing ability.
At any rate, Senator Schumer and his fellow Democrats are once again demonstrating that they simply cannot accept the results of the presidential election that gave Donald Trump the right to make Supreme Court picks.