Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s critique of President Trump’s attack on a federal judge should help his confirmation, according to a top Senate Republican.
“It should be very satisfying to Democrats because it shows that he’s very much an independent person and he defends the judiciary,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told the Washington Examiner. “And you would want the judiciary defended because it’s a separate branch of government that has to be a referee within our governmental system.”
Trump tapped Gorsuch, a Colorado jurist from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia last week. The decision was hailed as a win for conservatives, particularly those who want the courts to restrain the executive branch of government. Within days, a federal judge in Washington had drawn Trump’s anger by issuing a temporary injunction of the president’s executive order suspending travel from seven countries.
“The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
“Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!”
Gorsuch criticized those comments during a meeting with Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
“He certainly expressed to me that he is disheartened by the demoralizing and abhorrent comments made by President Trump about the judiciary,” the Connecticut Democrat told reporters on Wednesday.
Trump accused Blumenthal of “misrepresent[ing]” Gorsuch’s comments, but the judge’s team confirmed he denounced attacks on judges.
“Judge Gorsuch has made it very clear in all of his discussions with senators, including Senator Blumenthal, that he could not comment on any specific cases and that judicial ethics prevent him from commenting on political matters,” former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who is working with Gorsuch as he meets individual senators, said Thursday. “He has also emphasized the importance of an independent judiciary, and while he made clear that he was not referring to any specific case, he said that he finds any criticism of a judge’s integrity and independence disheartening and demoralizing.”
Grassley said that “it doesn’t matter” if Trump doesn’t like Gorsuch’s comments. “All that matters is he proves what — a lot of people are raising questions about Gorsuch, can he be independent of the president?” Grassley said. “He’s demonstrated that.”
