Chuck Schumer’s Indecent Attacks on Neil Gorsuch: New at Reason

While Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is free to reject Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch for any reason he wants, or even none at all, his current argument is that judges should ignore the Constitution.

David Harsanyi writes:

If Democrats want to filibuster President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, they’re entitled to do it. In fact, Democrats are free to try and stop federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation for any reason they desire, whether ideological or personal, or even no particular reason at all. There is nothing in the Constitution that compels senators to vote on judicial nominees the president forwards.

Make no mistake, though: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) now opposes a potential SCOTUS justice because he promises to be impartial when upholding the Constitution.
Since Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing starts Monday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and opponents have found “little to latch onto,” according to Politico (which means they’ve found nothing to spin into accusations of misogyny or racism), Schumer and his allies have launched a ham-fisted effort to paint Gorsuch as a corporate stooge.

This argument includes a preposterous New York Times piece headlined “Neil Gorsuch Has Web of Ties to Secretive Colorado Billionaire.” Who is this mysterious tycoon? Philip Anschutz, who is probably one the most familiar names in Colorado. He’s so secretive, in fact, that one of the largest medical facilities in the state is named after him. That’s just one of the many buildings that bears his name. If it’s disqualifying for one of the state’s leading lawyers to have a relationship with one of its leading businessmen, then nearly every Coloradan in Washington, D.C., will have to pack up and head home—including Schumer’s colleague Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

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