TODAY’S THE DAY | Judge Neil Gorsuch Sits Before The Senate Judiciary Committee | WATCH THE LIVE STREAM
March 20, 2017
GORSUCH MEETS WORLD
|The Senate Judiciary Committee commenced their four-day confirmation hearing this morning to consider the nomination of JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH to the Supreme Court. If you’re reading this, it’s not too late — we’ll catch you up on all the SCOTUS news and get you ready to go back to the live stream of the hearing.
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
|The Associated Press put together a tipsheet on how Supreme Court confirmations work, taking you step by step through the process that has put 124 Supreme Court justices on the bench since the United States was founded.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
|In The Hill, Lydia Wheeler shares five things to watch for in the Supreme Court showdown this week as senators grill JUDGE GORSUCH before holding a vote on his nomination. Two of the five have to do with how well Gorsuch will be able to handle the heat and perform under pressure.
THINK OF ME, THINK OF ME FONDLY
|So we won’t forget what came to pass, senators at today’s hearing were frequently referring to JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND, the man who was initially put up for the job of taking JUSTICE SCALIA’S seat when PRESIDENT OBAMA nominated him last year. In her opening statement, SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN noted, “We’re here today under very unusual circumstances.” Nodding to the Republican obstruction of Garland’s nomination she added, “Merrick Garland was widely regarded as a mainstream moderate nominee.”
SPEAKING OF
|Bob Egelko for SF Gate reports that in a news release from SENATOR FEINSTEIN’S office, JUDGE GORSUCH was referred to as an extremist on issues including worker protections and reproductive rights.
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR
|Richard Wolf with USA Today delivers a rundown of who JUDGE GORSUCH is and how his resume and pedigree are so perfect for conservatives, it’s as if he was plucked right out of central casting.
ICYMI
|Retro Report, a series of video documentaries presented by The New York Times, examines the SCOTUS nomination hearing of ROBERT BORK to remember what these hearings used to look like before nominees started the tradition of evading all meaningful and substantive questions.
SOMETHING TO TAKE THE EDGE OFF
|Fox News shares a list of nine fun facts about NEIL GORSUCH, “one for each member” as they say — a calculation based on SCOTUS convention it seems, not on the last year.
SCOTUS REVIEWS
Supreme Court nominees should weigh in on these rulings. You're up, Judge Gorsuch.
The Washington Post“Judicial independence is undeniably one of the pillars of the Constitution, but it is also sometimes distorted to impede another constitutional structural element: the Senate’s assessment of Supreme Court nominees.”
Let's start telling the truth about what the Supreme Court does
The Washington Post“The answer is simple and has to do with the fact that law is not anything like science — and that what the Supreme Court does has little to do with the dispassionate application of clear laws to clear facts. This should hardly be surprising.”
OTHER NEWS
Why Are Democrats Holding Back on Gorsuch?
The Atlantic“The amount of pressure the party feels from advocacy groups, and its base, may determine whether, and to what extent, Democrats intensify their attacks on the nomination. And if elected officials believe their core constituents are relatively apathetic about the nomination, Democrats may decide it’s not worth putting up much of a fight.”
How Neil Gorsuch Could Dramatically Reshape Government
TIME“If Gorsuch’s views were to prevail at the Supreme Court, federal agencies would be put on a shorter leash, requiring more explicit permission before tackling such issues as climate change and employment regulations.”