Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Judge Neil Gorsuch will follow the standard set by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during her Senate confirmation hearings and avoid disclosing how he would rule on particular issues or cases.
The Kentucky Republican said Gorsuch would follow the principle of “judicial independence” and not engage in “detailed discussions” during the confirmation process because they are “not proper” and might require him to recuse himself in certain cases that come before the court.
“It’s not realistic or fair to expect a judicial nominee to state under oath how she or he might rule as a judge,” McConnell said. “That’s why Justice Ginsburg did not give any preview.”
Just an hour before, the Senate GOP leadership circulated a release titled “The Ginsburg Standard — ‘No hints, no forecasts, no previews and no hypotheticals.'”
The quote came from Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s opening statement Monday in Gorsuch’s first day of confirmation hearings in which he referenced testimony from Ginsburg’s confirmation hearing.
“I’ve heard justices nominated by presidents of both parties decline to answer questions like these,” he said. “That’s because, as the nominee put it, quote, ‘A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of a particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.'”
Grassley said that refusal to state opinions on specific issues or cases during confirmation hearings has become known as the “Ginsburg standard.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly brushed those GOP arguments aside, calling on Gorsuch to be “more forthcoming” in his confirmation hearing Tuesday than he was during his private one-on-one meeting with the New York Democrat.
The argument that Supreme Court nominees cannot disclose their predilections or opinions on certain legal arguments “less they bias themselves,” does not hold water when the questions are not about specific cases but far broader.
“We know to ask general questions or cases previously decided to get a view of his judicial philosophy,” Schumer said.
Schumer also slammed Republicans for claiming that Gorsuch and other GOP high court picks would remain independent without any consideration to their personal ideology.
Trump, he said, chose Gorscuh from a list of prospective Supreme Court nominees culled by the “far-right” Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.
