By Bill Currier
Last week marked one year since the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. For that year, the entire country, along with candidates from both major political parties, had a thorough and vigorous debate about what kind of judicial philosophy should be represented in a nominee to replace Justice Scalia. That debate resulted in the American people electing Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, entrusting him with the great responsibility to select a well-qualified nominee to the nation’s highest court.
On January 31, President Trump kept his promise to choose a jurist in the tradition of Justice Scalia by nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch. However, in an unprecedented betrayal of the will of the voters, Senate Democrats are determined to obstruct his confirmation.
Judge Gorsuch is an ideal nominee to champion our nation’s Constitution as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. His academic credentials and professional background are nothing short of impressive. Not only did Gorsuch graduate Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in three years, but he also earned a Truman Scholarship to help pay for Harvard Law School where he graduated cum laude and received a doctorate from Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar. At the onset of his career, Judge Gorsuch clerked for some of the country’s top jurists – Judge David Sentelle and Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy – nominees of both Republican and Democratic presidents.
As a jurist, Judge Gorsuch subscribes to the notion that judges should base their decisions on the law and Constitution, not on their own policy preferences, while also believing that jurists should adhere to the founders’ original intent of the Constitution. Judge Gorsuch’s judicial record consistently reflects his commitment to upholding the law and the Constitution.
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In 2006, Judge Gorsuch was confirmed without objection to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. At that time, Senate Democrats called Gorsuch “a very talented, gifted judge,” “very ethical,” “very smart,” and “thoughtful and fair-minded.” Even Sen. Ron Wyden supported Judge Gorsuch’s 2006 nomination, along with 11 of his colleagues – including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – who were in office at the time.
If Senate Democrats supported Judge Gorsuch in 2006, why do they now seem laser focused on obstructing his confirmation process, just as they have done with President Trump’s cabinet nominees? Sen. Jeff Merkley announced, even before the Gorsuch nomination, that he would filibuster any nominee that isn’t the one former President Obama preferred – despite his desire to abolish the filibuster. So much for principles over politics! No Supreme Court nominee has ever been filibustered.
Disappointingly, even Wyden, Oregon’s senior senator, now refuses to commit to support an up-or-down vote for Judge Gorsuch’s nomination.
It seems Sens. Wyden, Merkley and their colleagues would rather resort to partisan political games than honor the will of the voters. The 2016 election is over. Wyden and Merkley should stop pandering to liberal special interests and commit to an up-or-down vote.
Bill Currier is chairman of the Oregon Republican Party.
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