In big win for Trump, Senate approves his
conservative court pick
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[April 08, 2017]
By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led
Senate on Friday gave Donald Trump the biggest triumph of his young
presidency, confirming his Supreme Court nominee over stout Democratic
opposition and restoring a conservative majority on the highest U.S.
judicial body.
The Senate, which last year refused to consider Democratic former
President Barack Obama's nominee to the court, voted 54-45 to approve
Republican Trump's pick, Colorado-based federal appeals court judge Neil
Gorsuch, to the lifetime job. Three Democrats joined the Republicans in
voting for Gorsuch.
Gorsuch's confirmation ends the longest Supreme Court vacancy since 1862
during the American Civil War, with the court down a justice for almost
14 months since long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died on
Feb. 13, 2016.
"Judge Gorsuch's confirmation process was one of the most transparent
and accessible in history, and his judicial temperament, exceptional
intellect, unparalleled integrity and record of independence makes him
the perfect choice to serve on the nation's highest court," Trump said
in a statement.
"He's going to make an incredible addition to the court," Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.
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Illustrating the importance of the moment, Vice President Mike Pence
served as the Senate's presiding officer during the vote to confirm
Gorsuch, who also worked in Republican former President George W. Bush's
Justice Department and is the son of the first woman to head the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Republicans, possessing a 52-48 Senate majority, on Thursday overcame a
ferocious Democratic effort to block a confirmation vote, resorting to a
rule change known as the "nuclear option."
"Today, for the first time in history, the theft of a Supreme Court seat
has been completed, profoundly damaging the integrity of the court,"
said Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, referring to Republicans casting
aside Obama's nominee Merrick Garland, who would have tilted the court
to the left for the first time in decades.
Merkley this week delivered a 15-1/2-hour Senate speech against Gorsuch.
The Senate's approval of Gorsuch reinstates the nine-seat court's 5-4
conservative majority, fulfilling an important Trump campaign promise.
Gorsuch, 49, was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican
President George H.W. Bush in 1991 picked Clarence Thomas, who was 43 at
the time. Gorsuch could be expected to serve for decades, while Trump
could make further appointments to the high court to make it even more
solidly conservative because three of the eight justices are 78 or
older.
Three Democratic senators up for re-election in 2018 in states won by
Trump last year - Indiana's Joe Donnelly, West Virginia's Joe Manchin
and North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp - voted for Gorsuch. Republican
Senator Johnny Isakson missed the vote while recovering from back
surgery.
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Gorsuch's confirmation gave a boost to Trump, showing he can get
important agenda items through a Congress controlled by his fellow
Republicans after the House of Representatives last month failed to pass
healthcare overhaul legislation. Trump is planning major tax cut
legislation as well.
EXTRAORDINARY STEPS
Senate Republicans resorted to extraordinary steps to overcome
Democratic opposition to Gorsuch, including changing long-standing
Senate rules to prohibit the use of a procedural blockade called a
filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. The rule change was dubbed the
"nuclear option" because it was considered an extreme break from Senate
tradition.
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Supreme Court nominee judge Neil Gorsuch is sworn in to testify at
his confirmation hearing. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan
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Democrats accused Gorsuch of being so conservative as to be outside
the judicial mainstream, favoring corporate interests over ordinary
Americans in legal opinions, and displaying insufficient
independence from Trump.
Gorsuch joins fellow conservatives Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel
Alito and Anthony Kennedy on a court that also includes liberal
justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and
Elena Kagan.
Trump has recorded accomplishments since taking office on Jan. 20,
including a variety of unilateral executive actions such as moving
to undo Obama's climate change regulations.
But he has encountered trouble with other major initiatives. Courts
blocked his executive action to stop people from several
Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. His
administration also has faced questions about any role the
president's associates may have played in alleged Russian meddling
in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump.
The rule change could make it easier for Trump to win confirmation
of Supreme Court nominees as long as Republicans control the Senate,
with Democrats left powerless to resist even if he gets a chance to
replace the court's senior liberal, 84-year-old Ginsburg, or the
court's swing vote, 80-year-old Kennedy, with more conservative
replacements.
A conservative-majority court is more likely to support gun rights,
abortion regulations, an expansive view of religious liberty and
Republican-backed voting restrictions, while opposing curbs on
political spending. The court also is likely to tackle transgender
rights and union funding in coming years.
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Among the groups congratulating Gorsuch on his confirmation were the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce business lobbying group, the National Rifle
Association gun rights group and anti-abortion activists.
Gorsuch will be sworn in on Monday in two different ceremonies, one
at the court and one at the White House. He can then prepare for the
court's next round of oral arguments, starting on April 17. The
court's current term ends in June.
Gorsuch will participate in the justices' private April 13
conference to consider taking new cases. There are appeals pending
on expanding gun rights to include carrying concealed firearms in
public, state voting restrictions that critics say are aimed at
reducing minority turnout, and allowing business owners to object on
religious grounds to providing gay couples certain services.
On April 19, the court will hear a case in which a church contends
Missouri violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of religious
freedom by denying it funds for a playground project due to a state
ban on aid to religious organizations. Gorsuch has ruled in favor of
expansive religious rights during his decade as a judge.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Andrew Chung and Richard Cowan;
Editing by Will Dunham)
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