Indeed, we can certainly say the Republicans had it coming. With Trumps recent nomination in Judge Neil Gorsuch, the Democrats have mobilized their efforts to take whatever extreme measures necessary to keep this conservative out of the Supreme Court.
The complaining from the Republicans will begin shortly as Gorsuch goes in front of Congress to get appointed to the federal position. This is to be expected as the last person appointed to the position, Merrick Garland, was blocked from hearings because Republicans refused to accept the general practice of having the current president nominate a federal judge in an instance of death.
Obama did exactly this, however. Republicans, looking to capitalize off a victorious election season, demanded that the American people deserved better than a liberal pick. Perhaps this is true. The United States voted the House, Senate and presidency conservative, so it makes some sense that Congress would want to push back the decision so Trump could make his move.
At the time, the move was just another example of how Congress, on both sides, refuse to work with each other. It was tough to watch. Now, the battle continues to wage on as the Republicans move to put one of them up for the highest judiciary position in the country. They better hope they have enough troops to put him through.
Gorsuch is no slouch when it comes to his resumé. Liberals can point a complain all they want that Trump has no idea what he’s doing, but when it comes to picking a justice for the Supreme Court, he hit the nail on the head with this one.
From Columbia University to Harvard University to Oxford University, Gorsuch racked up a pretty hefty education. Moreover, having clerked for two Supreme Court justices, Gorsuch will be coming into office with more hands-on experience for his job than almost anyone else in Washington D.C., it seems. That’s definitely not a bad thing.
Being an open supporter of the “Lion of the Law” Scalia, Gorsuch hopes to continue the tradition of strict adherence to constitutional texts, sticking to a conservative stance on many, if not most issues. Being someone who has constantly published his ideas, the American people will know what they’re getting. He might be a conservative, but he appears not to be someone affected by political motives. He’s a scholar of the law, not a politician, and that couldn’t be more important in a federal judge.
However, animosity from a few months ago is building up again. Nancy Pelosi recently came out saying that she believes he is “hostile towards women.” Pretty ridiculous, but clearly a reflection of the time we live in. Today, if you read the words penned in the Constitution as different from someone else, you are probably an evil individual. In this case, hostile toward the opposite gender. Hate to see such remarks made by those in Washington D.C.
Furthermore, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is crying again. He doesn’t believe Gorsuch has what it takes to be a modern day judge. However, I think the point of the pick was to have someone who isn’t a trendy liberal like Schumer, someone who doesn’t let progressive politics sway his reading of America’s most important text.
Unfortunately, Washington is a political swamp and since the Republicans stole the liberal’s seat in the Supreme Court, the war will wage on. Talks of filibuster are in the midst. Senator Jeff Merkley has already announced his plans to filibuster. Despite the tremendous boredom most in Washington feel when such a situation comes to fruition, it’s pretty exciting from a historical perspective. We don’t get to see filibusters very often.
Yet, as exciting as it is, the whole situation is profoundly frustrating. Yes, as a conservative, one would want Gorsuch more than anything. He stands for conservative values and is full of education and experience.
However, we have to be upset with how it got to this point. Blocking Obama’s pick was awkward and potentially unconstitutional, so now America needs to sit back and watch this lunchroom food fight takeover. Smug Republicans hopefully realize this was partly their fault.
Conservatives must respect Republican efforts to ensure the right mind made it to office, but seeing that actually put into practice was cringe-worthy and tough to defend. With four more years of Trump, it might pay off for liberals to just let the position go through. They can’t filibuster forever.
