White House pushes for Senate to confirm Gorsuch for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was on Capitol Hill with Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday as the White House paraded its pick to Republican leaders who sought to blunt Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Gorsuch, 49, was selected by President Donald Trump to fill the conservative seat on the high court that became open last February when Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly in the remote Big Bend region of Texas.

Some Democrats still smarting over GOP treatment of former President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill that post, federal Judge Merrick Garland, have vowed to block Gorsuch when his nomination comes up for a vote later this year.

Trump, at the White House on Wednesday, urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to change the Senate rules, if necessary, to break Democratic opposition and confirm the nominee on a simple majority vote instead of the 60 votes now needed.

The tactic is called the “nuclear option” and was first instituted in 2013 by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to break Republican opposition to Obama’s judicial nominations for lower courts. Reid and Democrats left intact the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees.

“I would say, if you can, Mitch, go nuclear because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web,” Trump said.

For his part, McConnell expressed confidence that Gorsuch, with his background, would prove to be a solid selection for the seat and would be confirmed.

Gorsuch is a federal appellate judge on the 10th Circuit Court in Denver.

“When the Senate confirmed Gorsuch to his current judgeship, the bipartisan support was so overwhelming that he was approved without a single vote in opposition,” McConnell said.

“I hope we can expect fair consideration again now,” he added.

Nevada’s two U.S. senators, Dean Heller, a Republican, and Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, have fallen along party lines on the nomination. Heller praised the selection of a conservative; Cortez Masto said she would keep an open mind as hearings start.

Both said they would await the vetting process before deciding whether to support or oppose the nomination.

Several Democrats have raised the specter of a filibuster to block Gorsuch from a full Senate vote. Some have cited rulings on social issues. Others, like Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., accuse Republicans of stealing the seat through delay tactics last year.

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate and under current rules would need 60 votes to stop debate and hold an up-or-down vote on the nomination.

The White House noted that Obama’s first two Supreme Court nominees were approved without parliamentary tactics to delay or block proceedings.

“They received bipartisan support because Republicans, despite some political and philosophical differences, viewed them as mainstream and qualified, and Judge Gorsuch should receive the same fair treatment,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

Spicer said the “administration has made reaching out to Congress a top priority, but you know where I am going with that. Democrats in the Senate continue to use every tool at their disposal to try to get away of the president’s attempts to make America great again.”

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said during a public meeting with Gorsuch at the Capitol “today starts that process” that gives senators the power under the Constitution to vet the nominee.

Meanwhile, in Nevada, Democrats and Republicans were watching the Gorsuch nomination and its potential impact on current issues and groups with interests before the high court.

“In four years, President Trump’s presidency will be over, but his SCOTUS nominee could have costly, long-lasting impacts on the LGBTQ community,” said Assistant Majority Leader Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, criticizing Gorsuch as a “person who aligns philosophically with Justice Scalia.”

He stressed that Nevadans must do everything to protect other groups too, including Muslim-Americans, immigrants, refugees and the disabled.

Caroline Mello Roberson, Nevada state director of NARAL, a pro-choice organization, said: “Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to overturn Roe v. Wade and punish women. Now that promise has a name: Neil Gorsuch. His nomination should frighten Nevadans, women and all Americans, to their core.”

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a Republican, issued a statement supporting Gorsuch’s nomination.

“From his 10 years of experience as a federal circuit court judge who decided thousands of cases to his time at the Department of Justice, Judge Gorsuch has a proven track record of faithfully upholding the Constitution, maintaining the separation of powers, and respecting that the proper role of a judge is to say what the law is, not what it should be,” Laxalt said.

Like Scalia, Laxalt said, “Gorsuch follows the text and original meaning of the Constitution, and will serve the American people well. I urge Congress to approve his nomination without delay.”

Debra J. Saunders at the White House and Ben Botkin at the state Capitol contributed to this report. Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.