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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - March 20, 2017
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This is the March 20, 2017, edition of an email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition, cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
In this morning’s Daily Brew, we briefly outlined this week’s big story. Confirmation hearings are set to begin in the Senate Judiciary Committee for President Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Here’s what we had to say this morning:
The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin nomination hearings on Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump nominated Gorsuch to the Supreme Court on January 31, 2017. In February, the committee chairman, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), indicated that he expected the committee hearings to last for three days, with one day devoted exclusively to testimony from the nominee. Grassley said, “We will try to have the hearing in one day, but before that one day that you ask him questions, there’s going to be one day of speeches by members of the committee, and the candidate’s going to have to sit there, and listen to that … that could be a short day if we’ve got one round. Or if we’ve got two rounds or three rounds, it could get to be a long day, but ... my intention is to get it done that one day.” Today, March 20, senators are expected to make opening statements with the nominee in attendance. Gorsuch is expected to testify on Tuesday, March 21. A third day of hearings on Wednesday, March 22, would be reserved for outside witnesses.
In today’s You’re Hired, we aim to go even deeper. Who will be doing the questioning? And what should you expect out of the committee this week?
Members of the Judiciary Committee
The Senate Judiciary Committee has 20 members: 11 Republicans and nine Democrats. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is the committee’s chair, and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is the ranking member.
| Committee on the Judiciary Members, 2017-2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic members (9) | Republican members (11) | |||
| • Dianne Feinstein (California) Ranking Member | • Chuck Grassley (Iowa) Chairman | |||
| • Patrick Leahy (Vermont) | • Orrin Hatch (Utah) | |||
| • Richard Durbin (Illinois) | • Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) | |||
| • Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island) | • John Cornyn (Texas) | |||
| • Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) | • Mike Lee (Utah) | |||
| • Al Franken (Minnesota) | • Ted Cruz (Texas) | |||
| • Christopher Coons (Delaware) | • Ben Sasse (Nebraska) | |||
| • Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) | • Jeff Flake (Arizona) | |||
| • Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) | • Mike Crapo (Idaho) | |||
| • Thom Tillis (North Carolina) | ||||
| • John Kennedy (Louisiana) | ||||
Republican members of the committee all represent states that Trump carried in the election; Democratic committee members all represent states carried by Hillary Clinton.
You can read our primer on the process—along with a handy glossary of terms—in the February 1 edition of You’re Hired. And our comprehensive overview of this vacancy and the process to fill it can be found here.
Part 1: Introductions (Happening Today)
What’s happened so far
Lots of talking. All 20 senators and Judge Gorsuch are allotted 10 minutes each for opening statements, as are those introducing Gorsuch—Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Neal Katyal, the former acting solicitor general under President Obama.
Who we watched
- Chuck Grassley (R): Grassley, the committee’s chairman, set the tone for the Republicans on the committee. In his statement, Grassley spoke directly to Gorsuch, explaining how he viewed the Democratic criticism of Gorsuch’s record. He said, “So if you hear that you’re for some business or against some plaintiff — don’t worry. We’ve heard it all before. It’s an old claim, from an even older playbook. You and I and the American People know whose responsibility it is to correct a law that produces a result you dislike. It’s the men and women sitting up on this dais. Good judges understand this. They know it isn’t their job to fix the law. In a democracy, that right belongs to be the People.”
- Dianne Feinstein (D): Like Grassley, Feinstein’s statement was intended to set the tone for Democrats. She questioned Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy of originalism: “I firmly believe the American Constitution is a living document intended to evolve as our country evolves. In 1789, the population of the United States was under 4 million … at the time of our founding, African Americans were enslaved .. the idea of an automobile, let alone the internet, was unfathomable. I am concerned when I hear that Judge Gorsuch is an originalist and a strict constructionist.”
Part 2: Questioning (Expected on Tuesday and Wednesday)
What to expect
Republicans are likely to emphasize Judge Gorsuch’s resume and to speak against what they see as judicial overreach, where court decisions have major policy implications. Expect Republican questioners to emphasize judicial independence. Democrats are expected to ask Gorsuch about his previous rulings. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) summarized this line of questioning last week when, in a news conference, he asked rhetorically, “Do corporate rights prevail over individual citizens?”
We also expect Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy to play a major role. He is an originalist, believing in the notion that the Constitution is a document that means the same thing today as it did when it was ratified in 1787.
Who we’re watching
- Orrin Hatch (R): Hatch has already expressed hissupport for Gorsuch and, in a speech last Wednesday, accused Senate Democrats of “cherry-picking and mischaracterizing [Gorsuch’s] opinions as evidence of a political agenda with total disregard of what the law commanded in each case.” In an opinion piece for Fox News, Hatch wrote, “A good judge is not one we can depend on to produce particular policy outcomes. Rather, a good judge is one we can depend on to produce the outcomes the law and the Constitution prescribe. Neil Gorsuch is exactly that sort of judge, and deserves a smooth and speedy confirmation.”
- Al Franken (D): Franken’s questions for some of Trump’s nominees so far have led to some memorable exchanges with Betsy DeVos (on whether student achievement should be measured by proficiency or improvement) and Jeff Sessions (on ties between the Trump campaign and Russia). After meeting with Gorsuch on March 7, 2017, Franken expressed doubts about Gorsuch’s record: “I said I wanted a mainstream consensus builder like Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee that Republicans shamefully refused to even take up. I am skeptical that Judge Neil Gorsuch could be that kind of consensus candidate, and our meeting did little to convince me otherwise. As a judge, he's often ruled in favor of big corporations over workers and consumers, and against women's health, including access to birth control.”
- Christopher Coons (D): The Democratic Senator from Delaware has stated he will remain open to hearing all sides on Gorsuch’s nomination. On February 14, 2017, after meeting privately with Gorsuch, Coons told reporters, “My role as a Senator is to really delve into the decisional law by this nominee. And to try, which is hard, to block out my strong feelings about the completely inappropriate actions of the Republican majority in denying to Judge Merrick Garland the hearing in front of our committee he should have had, the vote he should have had.”
Part 3: Outside witnesses (Expected Thursday)
What to expect
Lots of witnesses both for and against Gorsuch. These witnesses represent major players from the range of ideological leanings, from the progressive think tank Demos to some of Gorsuch’s former colleagues and clerks. Each side will call 13 witnesses.
Who we’re watching
Prior to the witnesses testifying, two officials from the American Bar Association will appear. They are expected to explain why their standing committee on the federal judiciary gave a unanimous rating of "well qualified" for Gorsuch’s nomination, which is the highest rating the committee awards.
Next steps for the nomination
After the hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on how to move on the nomination. Historically, the committee’s practice has been to send the nomination, whether or not the nominee wins a majority in committee, to the full Senate to allow the chamber to decide whether he should be confirmed. The debate in the Senate is scheduled by the Senate majority leader in consultation with the minority leader. A vote on the nominee follows debate. For a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation, the nominee must receive sixty votes.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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