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U.S. senators from New Mexico 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]

“

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]


HIGHLIGHTS
  • President Donald Trump (R) nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court on January 31, 2017.
  • On January 3, 2017, the first day of the 115th Congress, Republicans held a 52-48 majority in the U.S. Senate.
  • Confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee began on March 20, 2017.



    • U.S. senators from New Mexico on Neil Gorsuch's nomination

    Martin Heinrich (D)

    Senator Heinrich released the following statement on February 1, 2017:[5]

    “

    After ignoring Judge Garland’s nomination for purely partisan reasons, Senate Republicans are already talking about changing the Senate rules to confirm Trump's nominee if Democrats don’t simply defer.

    Given the current climate in Washington, any nominee to the nation’s highest court must have an unshaken commitment to the rule of law, separation of powers, and the rights enshrined in the Constitution. This is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, and Judge Gorsuch must be subjected to the highest level of scrutiny.

    New Mexicans have made it clear to me that now more than ever they want an independent judiciary committed to defending the Constitution and the rule of law. I agree and any nomination to the highest court in the land should require more than a simple majority vote to ensure as much. [3]

    		”

    Tom Udall (D)

    Senator Udall released the following statement on January 31, 2017:[6]

    “

    I‎ will thoroughly review the record of Judge Gorsuch and listen to the people of New Mexico before deciding how I will proceed with considering his nomination and how I will vote.‎ However, I almost always disagreed with Justice Scalia's opinions and politics, and I believe the nation would be better off with a more mainstream, centrist justice in his seat. President Trump received nearly 3 million fewer votes than Secretary Clinton. He does not have a mandate to appoint an ultra-conservative justice to the nation’s highest court.

    The first 11 days of President Trump's administration have made it chillingly clear how critical it is to have an independent judiciary that will evaluate matters on the facts and precedent, rather than a political agenda, and how fundamental the checks and balances in the Constitution are to our democracy. The Supreme Court will consider many weighty issues, and I will be carefully scrutinizing Judge Gorsuch’s record for how he would rule on workers' rights, laws that keep our air and water clean, and preventing discrimination based on race, gender or sexual orientation, among other issues. But President Trump has emphasized that he was choosing a nominee who would carry out his intention to reverse Roe v. Wade. So I want to be clear where I stand: Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for over 40 years, and I will fight any effort to reverse the law and take away a woman's right to make her own health care decisions. [3]

    		”

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The New York Times, "Justice Antonin Scalia, Who Led a Conservative Renaissance on the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 79," February 13, 2016
    2. ↑ The White House, "President Donald J. Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court," January 31, 2017
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    4. ↑ Politico, "Gorsuch confirmation hearing set for March 20," February 16, 2017
    5. ↑ Senator Martin Heinrich, "Heinrich statement on President Trump's Supreme Court nominee," February 1, 2017
    6. ↑ Facebook, "Senator Tom Udall," January 31, 2017
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