Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, is on the fence about Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination.
King held an approximately four-hour town hall about the Supreme Court Sunday night at the University of Southern Maine to gather input from his constituents. The first-term senator indicated he had not made up his mind, but praised some of Gorsuch’s record.
“Somebody said how will you vote? I haven’t decided,” King told the crowd. “And I think it’s premature because the hearing hasn’t been held, which I think is very important.”
King said he intended to attend Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee later this month, even though he is not a member of the committee.
After hearing Leah Bressack, a former clerk to Gorsuch from 2009 to 2011 and a student in Maine, tout the Supreme Court nominee’s independence, King responded by lauding Gorsuch, too.
“Whatever else you can say about him, my sense from his record is he’s exceedingly independent,” King said after noting the former clerk’s testimony as important. “Many of his decisions are contrary to the Justice Department, the immigration services, various agencies. He’s a real stickler for limits on executive power.
“And to be honest with you, it’s one of the things that’s weighing in my mind because as many of you have pointed out, with this president it’s going to be important to have an independent judiciary that will say, “No you can’t do that.” And so that quality is one that I think it gives me a little pause in the thought of let’s, I’m entirely opposed. I haven’t decided yet.”
How King votes on Gorsuch’s nomination could prove critical to the federal appeals court judge’s chances in the Senate. King is up for re-election in 2018, as are several Democratic senators from predominantly red states such as Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia. King’s openness to supporting Gorsuch could put pressure on other Democrats facing tougher re-election battles to consider changing their tune on Gorsuch’s nomination.
Although King indicated he hadn’t ruled out supporting Gorsuch’s high court bid, he made clear on Sunday he was not open to adopting Gorsuch’s originalist philosophy.
“I’ve always been somewhat skeptical of someone who says they’re an originalist for several reasons,” King said. “One is in Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution, it lists all the things that the Congress can do and one of them is that it allows the Congress to raise an army and navy, period. Does that mean the Air Force is unconstitutional?
“I do think, though, that any judge should start with the words of the Constitution and start with the words of the statute.”
