Nominating justices to fill vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court is a president’s prerogative. It was Barack Obama’s prerogative to nominate Merrick Garland last year for the vacancy created by Antonin Scalia’s death, and Senate Republicans’ refusal to allow Garland an up-or-down vote was poor behavior. That does not mean Democrats should stoop equally low.
Donald Trump’s choice, Coloradan Neil Gorsuch, is a surprisingly astute one. Gorsuch is much better qualified for the Supreme Court than many of Trump’s other nominees.
Yes, Gorsuch is conservative. Democrats are justified in their concerns, just as Republicans were justified in theirs about Garland. But any Trump nominee will be conservative; that’s the way the system works.
Gorsuch is highly qualified. After a private career representing, among other clients, some of Colorado’s biggest businesses, he was appointed by former President George W. Bush to the federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. His mother, Ann Gorsuch Burford, was a controversial head of the Environmental Protection Agency under Ronald Reagan. No stranger to Washington, he nonetheless could be a valuable western voice on the Court.
Gorsuch also is highly respected and well liked. He clearly respects the rule of law, which is not what opponents might have expected from a Trump pick. In his confirmation hearing, he said the right things about judicial independence and ruling on the merits of each case. His questioners could not trip him up.
Were politics not what they are today, he might have received broad bipartisan support. Instead, his nomination is caught in fierce partisan tit-for-tat gamesmanship.
Gorsuch does not deserve that, and neither does this nation. Senate Democrats will filibuster in retaliation for the poor treatment Garland received. They cannot triumph, and they should not waste their energy. Republicans will ensure that Gorsuch is confirmed, and he will be a principled justice.
Just as last year’s obstructionism had almost nothing to do with Garland, this year’s has equally little to do with Gorsuch. It is all political theatre. The Democrats should take the high road. Confirming Neil Gorsuch stands out as a singularly wise choice during a time when there is plenty else to oppose.
