U.S. senators from Maryland on Neil Gorsuch's nomination

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On January 31, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Scalia was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for three decades.[1] President Trump said regarding the nomination,[2]
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I am proud to announce the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for Justice of the Supreme Court ... This has been the most transparent and most important Supreme Court selection process in the history of our country and I wanted the American people to have a voice in this nomination. Judge Gorsuch has a superb intellect, an unparalleled legal education, and a commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its text. He will make an incredible Justice as soon as the Senate confirms him. [3] |
” |
Confirmation hearings on Gorsuch's nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee were held from March 20-23, 2017. On April 3, 2017, voting 11-9 on party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the full U.S. Senate. That same day, Senate Democrats announced that they had a sufficient number of votes to sustain a filibuster against the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. In anticipation of an expected filibuster, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated that he was prepared to restrict the use of filibusters on Supreme Court nominations, referred to as the nuclear option. The Senate voted on April 6, 2017, to end the use of filibusters on all presidential nominations and proceeded to vote to end debate on the Gorsuch nomination. Gorsuch was confirmed on a recorded 54-45 vote of the Senate on Friday, April 7, 2017, and he received his commission on Monday, April 10, 2017.[4]
U.S. senators from Maryland on Neil Gorsuch's nomination
Senator Cardin released the following statement on January 31, 2017:[5]
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For nearly a year, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans shamefully failed to respect that President Obama was the duly elected president and had the authority and responsibility to put forward a nominee for the United States Supreme Court – and the Senate had the obligation to provide advice and consent for that nominee, Merrick Garland ... This reckless course of action by the Republican leadership has inflicted lasting damage on the Supreme Court and the independence of the federal judiciary while diminishing the powers and duties of the Senate. [3] |
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Prior to the announcement of Neil Gorsuch as President Donald Trump's nominee, Senator Van Hollen made the following comments, "The American public deserves a thorough vetting. People need to make sure that we have a Supreme Court justice who is in the mainstream and ultimately that's why we have a 60-vote requirement to make sure whoever it is can get that consensus ...I'm very worried that the person may not fit that pattern, but we need to wait and see."[6]
See also
- Supreme Court vacancy, 2017: An overview
- U.S. senators on Neil Gorsuch's nomination
- Neil Gorsuch
- Process to fill the vacated seat of Justice Antonin Scalia
- Antonin Scalia
- United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Footnotes
- ↑ The New York Times, "Justice Antonin Scalia, Who Led a Conservative Renaissance on the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 79," February 13, 2016
- ↑ The White House, "President Donald J. Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court," January 31, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Politico, "Gorsuch confirmation hearing set for March 20," February 16, 2017
- ↑ JTA News Brief, "Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court, eliciting mixed Jewish reaction," January 31, 2017
- ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Dems finally have a chance for revenge on SCOTUS, but will they take it?" February 1, 2017