Chuck Schumer: Neil Gorsuch Avoided Questions ‘Like the Plague’ During Meeting

Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon February 8, 2017

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer emerged from a Tuesday meeting with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch unimpressed, telling reporters that the judge dodged touchy issues.

“He is clearly a very smart, polite and capable man who loves being a judge,” the New York senator told the press after a closed-door interview with President Donald Trump’s pick for the high court. “But the judge today avoided answers like the plague. This President is testing fundamental underpinnings of our democracy and its institutions. These times deserve answers and Judge Gorsuch did not provide them. I have serious, serious concerns about this nominee.”

Schumer cited topics like executive power, the “Muslim ban” and the White House’s false voter fraud allegations as ones that he could not extract a firm answer from Gorsuch on. These issues have come into sharp focus since the inauguration of the new president, who some have seen as challenging traditional separation of power and overstepping his authority.

The minority leader has vowed to require Gorsuch to receive 60 votes in the Senate in order to win confirmation, an indication that he and Democrats are planning to filibuster the nominee. That could prompt Republicans to use the “nuclear option” and remove the filibuster from Supreme Court nominations.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO