Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) went off and ripped the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee for denying Merrick Garland a hearing and pointed out that Trump’s nominee Neil Gorsuch was the choice of special interests.
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After Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch had refused to comment on how Merrick Garland was treated by Senate Judiciary Republicans, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) went off.
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Leahy said:
Since this committee began holding hearings, public hearings for Supreme Court nominations in 1960, I wasn’t here at that time, but it has never denied a hearing or a vote to a pending nominee ever until Chief Judge Garland. I can express an opinion. I think it is shameful. I think it has severely damaged the reputation of this committee. I think it has severely damaged the reputation of the Senators who concurred with that. They were anything but the conscience of the nation in that regard, and those who proudly held their hand up and swore that they would uphold the Constitution did not.
It becomes more of a problem because it appears the president outsourced your selection to the far right big money special interest groups. You may not like that terminology, but even Republican Senators have praised the fact that the president had gone to this group, and had a list when he was running for office of who he could select from. A list not prepared by him, but by these special interest groups, and they have an agenda, and they are confident you share their agenda. In fact, the first person who interviewed you for this nomination said that they sought a nominee who understands things like we do.
Just in case anybody thought that Democrats had forgotten about the Garland fiasco and are going to let Gorsuch sail through the confirmation process, Leahy’s comments should be a wake-up call. Democrats are going to fight this nomination. Leahy made it clear that Democrats aren’t falling for his rehearsed tone of moderation.
One should expect that Senate Democrats are going to use every tool at their disposal to do everything that they can to keep Neil Gorsuch off of the Supreme Court.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
