Trump Supreme Court pick grilled during confirmation hearing
March 21, 2017
Neil Gorsuch pledged to stake out his independence from the president who appointed him. He also said his personal feelings on issues like abortion would not influence his decisions.
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Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was in the hot seat on Tuesday as his confirmation hearing entered its second day. After a day of opening statements from the senators tasked with vetting the judge, the 49-year-old was questioned on his record, his political philosophy, and his views on President Trump.
One of the first questions put to Gorsuch was whether he'd feel pressure to rule in favor of Trump, who appointed him. The judge told the Senators that he believed firmly in judicial independence, and he had "no difficulty ruling against or for any party."
He was also quizzed about contentious rulings made by the court in the past, particularly the Roe v. Wade case legalizing abortion. When Graham asked if President Trump had asked Gorsuch to overturn the decision, Gorsuch reiterated his independence from the executive.
"Senator, I would have walked out the door," he replied during the tense exchange. "That's not what judges do."
Adding to that sentiment when asked about the case by committee chair, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Gorsuch said: "My personal views, I tell you, Mr. Chairman, are over here. I leave those at home."
Party reaction
The Republicans on the committee seemed to unanimously support Gorsuch, even Senator Lindsey Graham - who ran against Trump in the primary elections and has not shied away from criticizing the president's policies. Graham said he was afraid the president would pick "somebody on TV," but that he "did a good job picking Judge Gorsuch."
Democrats, however, wished to make it clear that they had no interest in sitting idly by after Republicans had engaged in an historically unprecedented refusal to give Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, so much as a preliminary hearing.
To that point, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont told the committee he was not about to "rubber stamp a nominee selected by extreme interest groups and nominated by a president who lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes."
Decades of decisions
The judge also pushed back on allegations he has sided with corporate interests over workers throughout his career, telling Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein that all people "poor or rich, might or meek, get equal protection of the law." On the previous day, Feinstein had cited a case in which he wrote a dissenting opinion condemning a worker who lost his job when he failed to carry out his duties due to personal safety concerns.
Gorsuch was tapped by Trump to take the seat vacated by the late Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. Former President Barack Obama nominated the moderate Merrick Garland to take Scalia's seat, but the Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider him in the hopes that the upcoming general election would allow them to appoint a conservative justice. As the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment and at 49 he is relatively young for the bench, Gorsuch could shape the court for decades to come.
The initial hearing will be followed by a week of committee discussion between the Senators. Grassley has said he expects to hold a final vote on Gorsuch's confirmation on April 3.
Trump's policy actions since February
Trump brought a new flurry of executive orders, memoranda and bill signings into effect in the last five weeks. Some were alterations of previous attempted policies, such as the travel ban. Here are the highlights.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
Lucky number six - second time's a charm?
After his first travel ban was slapped down by several courts, Trump issued a revised order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries. This time, Trump dropped Iraq from a list that included seven blacklisted countries first time around. The new order temporarily suspended the entire US refugee program, but exempted those with visas and who had already been formally accepted as refugees.
Image: Reuters/C. Barria
Turning promises into policy
From February and into March, President Trump further advanced his political objectives through a combination of executive orders, memoranda, memos, and the signing of bills into law. He also used his executive authority to undo guidelines issued under the Obama administration.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Multiple policy-making methods
In February, Trump signed 11 new executive orders (broad ranging directives that help the executive branch manage federal government operations) and issued one memorandum (a more direct executive action aimed at a specific agency) targeting the Department of Labor. The US President also signed five bills sent to his Oval Office desk by Congress, which will now become law.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Kicking off financial de-regulation
President Trump's first February executive order established "core principles" for regulating the financial system and requires the Treasury Department to review and report on key provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act. Republicans had criticized the act, which was implemented in the aftermath of the Great Recession, for strangling financial flexibility and inhibiting economic growth.
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
Expanding the power of the criminal justice system
Through a series of three executive orders, Trump followed up on his campaign promise to crack down on what he had described as rampant crime in the US. He ordered Attorney General Jeff Sessions to create a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety and heralded stronger combating of transnational crime. Trump also called for new federal crime criteria to prevent violence against police.
Image: Getty Images/J. Lott
Changing succession in the Department of Justice
On February 9, Trump signed Executive Order 13775 reversing changes to the Justice Department's line of succession that President Obama had made mere days before leaving office. Trump had already side-stepped Obama's order when he removed and replaced acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she had refused to defend Trump's travel ban.
Image: Getty Images/P. Marovich
Slashing agency regulations
Executive Order 13777, signed February 24, builds off of his previous January 30 order prioritizing massive deregulation across the federal government. The February order introduces Regulatory Reform Officers into federal agencies and creates reform task forces. Together, these bodies will advise on the "repeal, replacement or modification" of regulations perceived as prohibitive or ineffective.
Image: Getty Images/D. McNew
Dismantling environmental protection
Trump began undoing environmental protections on two fronts. Firstly, he issued an executive order directing the Environmental Protection Agency to review a rule that empowers the federal government to protect waterways. Though unlikely to have immediate effects, the order could eventually weaken the 1972 Clean Water Act. Trump also signed a bill invalidating an Obama-era stream protection rule.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/S. Helber
Promoting historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs)
Surronded in the Oval Office by leaders from historically black educational institutions, Trump signed Executive Order 13779 in order to "promote excellence and innovation" at HBCUs. Primary goals including increasing private-sector participation in the institutions, broadly improving HBCUs capabilities, improving the relationships between HBCUs and the federal government.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Guerrucci
Striking transgender guidelines
In a two-page letter to US public schoos, the Trump administration revoked a controversial Obama-era federal directive allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choosing. The White House jusitified the action through a pending court case, despite the guidelines already being on hold. The letter did not lay out new guidelines, meaning states can choose their policies.
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Reversing bill stopping mentally-ill people buying guns
On February 28 Trump signed a measure to block an Obama-era regulation that would have prevented about 75,000 people with mental disorders from purchasing firearms. In an effort to curb gun violence, the Obama administration asked the Social Security Administration to disclose information about people with certain mental illnesses to the gun background system.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Krzaczynski
Releases aggressive guidelines on deportation
In the third week of February the Department of Homeland Security released Trump's plans to aggressively enforce deportation policies regardless of the severity of an immigrant's criminal history. The guidelines kicked off a nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Image: picture alliance/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/AP/dpa/C. Reed
Supports women in STEM fields
Trump signed two bills promoting women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). One required NASA to encourage young women to study STEM fields and pursue careers that will help advance science and space exploration. The second required the National Science Foundation to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to work in the commercial world.