Hirono, Schatz Disappointed With Trump’s Pick Of Gorsuch
The Hawaii senators say they will carefully review the Supreme Court justice nominee’s record, but earlier indications raise serious concerns.
President Donald Trump’s nomination of聽Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court has Republicans very happy and Democrats very worried.
Include Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono in the latter camp.
鈥淚n his first two weeks as President, Donald Trump has demonstrated minimal tolerance for independent thinking and dissent,” Hirono said in a statement late Tuesday. “I am deeply concerned that his choice for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, will be a rubber stamp for the President’s radical agenda. We owe it to the American people to vet this nominee extensively and exhaustively.”
Hirono, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, added, “In the weeks and months ahead, I will carefully scrutinize Judge Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy, his views on a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, his position on voting rights, and his thoughts on the balance between individual rights and corporate power, among other subjects.鈥
Hawaii’s other Democrat had聽this to say:
鈥淪upreme Court nominees should be held to the highest standards, because the Court has the final word on rights that are fundamental to the lives of Americans: our right to privacy, reproductive rights, the right to vote, and equal justice under the law. 鈥淚 am disappointed the President has nominated someone who does not appear committed to ensuring these rights and who is outside of the legal mainstream. Judge Gorsuch was picked from a list provided to President Trump when he was a candidate. This list was curated by the Heritage Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing a radical agenda of the diminishment of individual and civil rights.”
Schatz added, “Judge Gorsuch has consistently ruled in favor of corporations over individuals, has undermined women鈥檚 rights, and has failed to protect workers from discrimination. I will continue to study his record, and I will pay close attention to his hearing. But this was a missed opportunity to select a mainstream judge who could have garnered bipartisan support.鈥
The Senate is controlled by the GOP, which has 52 members. Democrats have 46 members and two independents tend to side with that party.
