filibuster. if judge gorsuch isn't good enough i dare say there will never be another nominee that's good enough to allow an up-or-down vote if this unprecedented filibusters filibuster is allowed to stand. so i hope our colleagues will reconsider this and on cooler reflection not driven by the elements in their own party butg rather by their good judgment and their sense of responsibility not only to their constituents but to the constitution itself and to the important role that the senateo plays in the adviser and consent function to a nominee to the united states supreme court so i hope they reconsider and i hope when the roll call vote is held that our colleagues will provide the 60 votes we need to get cloture so we can have that up-or-down vote on judge gorsuch's nomination. mr. president i rise today in support of the nomination ofmi judge neil gorsuch or the supreme court of united states. last week the judiciary committee in which i served and held a weeklong series of hearings and judge gorsuch's nomination of listening to the judges answer questions from myr collea

judge neil gorsuch and endeavored to explain why on the merits or they don't believe he deserves to be elevated to a lifetime appointment on the supreme court. now i listen to my friends and the distinguished majority leader each morning. since the beginning of this congress he is chopped up every democratic request or objection in this body celebrate some leftover resentment from the election.in it's just not true but he keeps trying. and now he's trying the same strategy with judge gorsuch said he repeatedly cites a quote by a friend of the judge who of course said there is no principled reason to oppose this nomination. so he says it must be politics. concludes. i respectfully but wholeheartedly disagree with the majority leader on this point. there are several principled gorsuc reasons oppose judge's nomination. first to judge gorsuch was unable to sufficiently convince me that he be an independent check on the president who has shown almost no restraint from executive overreach. he asserted independence but could not point to a single thing in this record to guarantee it and he re

committee heard more than 20 hours of testimony from judge gorsuch and outside witnesses also testified today. also, just a moment ago news on the health care repeal and replace measure in the house. members say they are delaying the vote that was supposed to be held today. president trump met earlier with members of the conservative house freedom caucus, but the measure has failed to move forward. house speaker paul ryan postponed a press conference and there is a conference held for 7:00 p.m. eastern, a possible procedural vote on the measure around 8:00. one of the sticking points is the essential health benefits mandate that conservative wants taken out of the replacement measure. you can follow the live coverage of the house on cspan. the fourth day of the confirmation hearing just wrapping up. if you missed any of the testimony, you can find it online cspan.org. here's a look back at the proceedings from today. >>> the next panel will be judge taha, ms. masameno, judge henry, mr. jaffer, judge cain, mr. perkins, ms. bresack and mr. calamine. if i pronounced anyone's name

nomination of judge neil gorsuch of the supreme court of the united states. last week the judiciary committee heard testimony from the judge. after listening to the judge's flawless testimony and after lang to him answer questions from my colleagues for days on end, i am even more convinced than ever that he is exactly the kind of jurist we need on the supreme court of the united states. i want to briefly explain my support for the judge and then respond to some of the criticisms that have been leveled against him. first and foremost, judge gorsuch understands the proper and necessarily limited role of the judiciary in our constitutional republic. last week over and over again judge gorsuch affirmed, even against great criticism, criticism that at times can be difficult to understand in its entirety, but responded time and time again to criticisms by pointing out that it's his judge as a judge to interpret and apply the law and not to make it, not to establish policy, but to apply that policy which has been placed into law by the legislative branch. when you're reading law, the text

the full senate to confirm judge neil gorsuch as an associate justice of the united states supreme court. >>> perfect. thank you. >> we are going to leave this taped portion of the hearing since chairman grassley is back in the room and about to gavel in. >>> i will have a chance to get through the four people testimony and then if we have hopefully a republican democrat votes so i can finish. i haven't missed a vote since 1993. that's about 7,900 votes. i don't intend to miss another one. professor tirly. >> thank you members of the senate judiciary committee. it is an honor to discuss the nomination of judge neil gorsuch for the united states supreme court. i believe the nominee should be extraordinary. i should state at the outset that i do not agree with all of judge gorsuch's legal views, however i believe that judge gorsuch to be exceptional choice for the court. while many focus on replacing the conservative with another conservative, the primary concern should be to replace an intellectual with another intellectual. judge gorsuch is that type of nominee to have the vigor to

build a nest egg for retirement. now, mr. president, on another matter, since judge neil gorsuch was nominated to the supreme court, senate democrats have searched high and they've searched low for a reason to oppose him. they looked at his background, and they found a columbia alum, a harvard law graduate and an oxford scholar. they looked at his reputation and found an impartial and fair judge, and eloquent writer and humble and even tempered man. they looked at his record as a judge and found someone who follows the facts where they lead without favoring one party over another, someone respected by democrats, independents, and republicans alike. and someone who understands his role is to interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. now colleagues across the aisle also had the opportunity to spend hours with judge gorsuch at his confirmation hearing. once again they found little to hang their hat on when it comes to a reason to oppose him. instead these hearings made clear a point recently stated by a board member of the liberal american constitution society, the senate sho

gorsuch as the bold ideal of a neutral and impartial judge. they have insisted that judge gorsuch is a straight, down-the-middle guy, someone who will just call the balls and strikes. the majority leader even likes to cite the letter of a friend of the judge who says there is no printed reason to oppose his nomination. of course, there are several printed reasons to object to judge gorsuch. today i'd like to focus on one in particular. judge gorsuch's long career ties to conservative interests and conservative ideological groups. the idea that judge gorsuch would simply be a neutral mainstream justice is belied by his career, his judicial record and perhaps most of all the manner with which he was selected to serve on the supreme court. he was culled from a list of -- from a list hand-picked by the federalist society and the heritage foundation. conservative organizations that have spent the last few decades systematically trying to shift the balance of the courts way to the right. most of my colleagues on the other side know how far right even the heritage foundation is. and they

judiciary for the fourth day of the supreme court confirmation hearing for judge neil gorsuch. it began with a full day of opening statements and then two days over 20 hours of questioning by the committee. today will feature outside witnesses both those in favor and opposed to the nominee. today's hearing is expected to last into the afternoon and a reminder, you can watch all of this week's testimony online any time at cspan.org just type neil gorsuch into the search bar. right now you're watching live coverage of the senate judiciary committee on c-span3. >>> good morning to everybody whose here and especially those who have prepared for testimony today. we welcome everybody on what i think will be the final day of judge gorsuch's confirmation hearing. we've already heard two days of impressive testimony from the nominee. i think he's shown great command of the law and i think he has showed a humility with his humble delivery and i think people learned a lot about our -- not only our political system but our judicial system with what's going on the last three days. today will hear fr

finally, we reviewed judge gorsuch's record against a highly unusual backdrop including promises made by president trump that his nominee would overturn roe automatically and would be selected from lists approved by the heritage foundation and the federalist society. a really highly unusual occurrence, to say the least. when you put these extraordinary promises together with a judge's record and his refusal to provide anything but platitudes about his judicial philosophy to this committee, there's only one possible conclusion. and it is that judge gorsuch should not be confirmed. >> thank you, miss graves. and to the remaining witnesses on the panel and the members of the committee, we are about halfway through a vote and we are all going to need to take a recess to go vote. so what we will do is also give a few extra minutes to that reset so that folks can get a bright bite to eat if we can. we will -- actually, do we have two votes? >> i'll be back here about 1:10 to take over -- >> okay. so we will recess until 1:10 and continue our deliberations at that point. committee's in

, and that is judge gorsuch. well, mr. president, i've had the opportunity these past three days to watch judge neil go such in the judiciary committee, to review his credentials and record on the tenth circuit and about that. i like to recognize the outstanding work done by every democratic member of the judiciary committee. they were outstanding in questioning judge gorsuch, despite this lack of candor and desire to. a i'd like to call out our exceptional ranking anybody, senator feinstein, who has done a wonderful job leading that commitee. now issue thought long and hard about this nomination.ominatio what i means for the future of the supreme court some the future of our country. what is at stake is considerable. the decisions we make here in the senate over the next few weeks about judge gorsuch, as on any supreme court nominee, will echo through the lifetime tenure of that judge. through a generation of americans. discussions of the supreme court can get wonky and technical, with invocation office presidency dent, interpretation, what is at stake is not abstract. it's real, i

talk about the confirmation of judge neil gorsuch to the united states supreme court. 230 years of our nation's history there has never been -- the nation's history on the constitution, never been a successful partisan filibuster of a supreme court justice. what i mean by that is this. no supreme court nominee has ever been killed by a partisan filibuster on the floor of the united states senate. sure, you can argue in 1968 about the bipartisan attempt to make sure that then justice -- associate justice abe fortas wasn't elevated to the chief justice position, but what this chamber is facing today isn't a question of whether we will abide by the biden rule. the biden rule of course was when joe biden said during the last term of the president -- the outgoing president's office up for election that we're not going to confirm any nominees. this isn't an argument over whether chuck schumer was right when then senator chuck schumer said that heck, over the last couple of years of the bush administration we're not going to allow a justice to be confirmed. that's not what we are arguing abou

court justice nominee neil gorsuch. his comments run about 15 minutes. mr. hatch: mr. president, i rise today to address once again the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to be the next associate justice of the united states supreme court. i am extraordinarily pleased that the president has nominated such an outstanding individual to fill the seat that was held by my friend, the late justice antonin scalia for nearly three decades. in the weeks since judge gorsuch's nomination, i've done my best to make the case that he is exactly the type of and kind of justice we need, onehat will in the words of marbury vs. madison, say what the law is, not what he wishes it to be. my view is his outstanding credentials and understanding of the proper role of a judge under our constitution make him a choice that should command universal support. unfortunately, this feeling does not appear to be as broadly shared as it should be. left-wing activists are demanding a scorched-earth approach to judge gorsuch's nomination, and i'm afraid that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle appear to ha

nomination of judge neil gorsuch to serve on the u.s. supreme court. the core port and to reflect her mom that we have reached this moment.he it's been more than a year since the untimely passing of justice antonin scalia and bev morey of 2016. under article ii, section 2 of the united states constitution make president barack obama had a duty to make a nomination to fill that vacancy. he met that obligation by nominating chief judge merit harland in march of 2016. the leader of the senate republicans majority leader mcconnell announced for the first time, for the first time-y in the 200 30-year history of the senate he would refuse thete president nominate judge garland a hearing and a vote. senator mcconnell would further say he would refuse to even meet with judge garland. it was a transparent political b decision made by the republican leader in the hopes that a republican would be elected president of vacancy and part of a broader republican politicalre strategy to influence if not captured the judicial branch of court system. not only did the senate republicans keep the supreme

>>> this fourth day of the confirmation hearing for neil gorsuch to be supreme court justice now in a break so there can be a vote on the senate floor. some news from capitol hill meantime senate democratic leader chuck schumer today announcing that democrats will filibuster judge gorsuch's nomination. here is what he had to say. >> now on the subject i wish to speak about this morning at length and that is judge gorsuch. well, mr. president, i've had the opportunity these past three days to watch judge neil gorsuch in the judiciary committee, review his credentials and record on the tenth circuit and before that. i particularly like to recognize the outstanding work done by every democratic member of the judiciary committee. they were just outstanding in questioning judge gorsuch despite his lack of candor and desire to answer. i would like to particularly call out our exceptional ranking member senator feinstein who has done a wonderful job leading the committee. i've thought long and hard about this nomination and what it means for the supreme court and the future of our country.

different judges heard my cases. one felt a against me. the judge was neil gorsuch. amy: as confirmation hearings continue for supreme court nominee neil gorsuch, we will look at one of his most controversial cases when he ruled against a truck driver who got fired after he abandoned his broken down trailer in order to avoid freezing to death in subzero temperatures. we will hear from the trucker and senator al franken. companysurd to say this is in its rights to fire him because he made the choice of possibly dying from freezing to death or causing other people to die possibly by driving an unsafe vehicle. that is absurd. amy: we will also look at neil gorsuch's views on citizens united and the $10 million spent in dark money to push his confirmation. then we speak to two victims of racial profiling in the nation's airports. when is a former nororth carolia police chief, the other is a lawyer suing the trump administratition over its targeting of sanctuary cities. both men were recently detained and questioned. we will find out what happened. all that and more, coming up. welcome to dem

you have been watching a portion of the nomination hearing for judge neil gorsuch. thehree of the 40's that committee met this past week, we would like to open a powerful get your thoughts on the nomination and the prospects ahead in the senate. we are going to do that shortly here at c-span. before phone lines will be open to get your thoughts. first, we are going to show you some remarks from the democratic leader in the u.s. senate from this week on the floor, chuck schumer talks about his opposition to judge neil gorsuch and his nomination to the supreme court. your calls coming up in about 20 minutes. gorsuch. well, mr. president, i've had the opportunity these past three days to watch judge neil gorsuch in the judiciary committee, to review his credentials and record on the tenth circuit, and before that. i would particularly like to recognize the outstanding work done by every democratic member of the judiciary committee. they were just outstanding in questioning judge gorsuch despite his lack of candor and desire to answer. and i'd like to particularly call out our excepti

. we welcome everybody on what i think will be the final day of judge gorsuch's confirmation hearing. we've already heard two days of impressive testimony from the nominee. i think he's shown great command of the law and i think he has showed a humility with his humble delivery and i think people learned a lot about our -- not only our political system but our judicial system with what's going on the last three days. today will hear from a number of outside witnesses. we'll hear from a number of distinguished witnesses both in support and in opposition to the nominee. they will all speak to the qualifications to be a supreme court justice. i look forward from hearing from all the witnesses today. let me modify this a little bit because i'm going to spend maybe 15 minutes at the agriculture committee because the nominee for secretary of agricultures before that committee and i'm a member of that committee and i'll have somebody else chair. that won't stop the business going on. so that's the only time i should probably be away. each of our witnesses will have five minutes to make an o

. >>> next on c-span3, a discussion on supreme court nominee, judge neil gorsuch. then a look at the revised travel ban and u.s. immigration policy under the trump administration. that's followed by two panels on the economic outlook from the national association of business policy. >>> now, a discussion on the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to the supreme court. the heritage foundation hosted legal scholars looking at the jud judge's previous rulings on free speech and administrative agencies. this is about an hour. >> good afternoon. welcome to the heritage foundation. douglas and sarah allison auditorium. we welcome throws who join us on our heritage.org website on all of these occasions. for those inhouse we appreciate that courtesy check that our mobile devices have been sile e silenced or turned off. for those watching online and in the future, you're welcome to send questions or comments at any time, simply e-mailing speaker at heritage.org and we will post today's program on our heritage home page for everyone's future reference. leading our discussion today is elizabeth sl

for the disclosure of donors contributing money to support supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. minority leader shumer was joined by senators sheldon whitehouse and richard blumenthal. in addition, they urged senate republicans to avoid changing the rules for confirming supreme court nominees. at the end of the briefing, minority leader schumer revealed that senate democrats sent a letter to president trump about their willingness to work with republicans and the white house on improving health care. senator schumer: thank you, everyone, for being here as we arm up the crowd for the spectacular. senator whitehouse: i am here with i our minority leader, chuck schumer, and my friend and former attorney general colleague, dick blumenthal, to call for a little bit of daylight into the dark money that is presently shadowing the nomination of judge gorsuch. during the course of the aring, we exemployed the supreme court's role to arbitrate fairly between parties when litigation comes to the highest court in the land. as we saw over and over again, there are 5-4 partisan decisions fro

confirmation hearing of supreme court nominee neil gorsuch wrapped up. we'll show you today's session where the committee heard from members of the american bar association, sear air -- sierra club and law clerks. this is six hours. >> good morning to everybody who is here and especially those who have prepared for testimony today. we welcome everybody on the -- what i think will be the final day of judge gorsuch's confirmation hearing. we have already heard two days of impressive testimony from the nominee. i think he has sewn great command of the law. and i think he has showed a humility with his humble delivery, and i think people learned a lot about not only our mitt cal -- political system and our judicial system with what has gone on. today we'll hear from a number of outside witnesses. we'll hear from a number of distinguished witnesses, both in support and in opposition to the nominee. they will all speak to the qualifications to be a supreme court justice. i look forward to hearing from all the witnesses today. let me modify this a little bit because i'm going to spend maybe 15 minutes

the supreme court confirmation hearings for judge neil gorsuch live monday on c-span2, c-span.org and on the free c-span radio app. now conservative scholars -- they focus on decisions impacting religious liberty, free speech and giving deference to administrative agencies. this is about an hour. >> good afternoon. welcome to the heritage foundation. douglas and sarah allison auditorium. we welcome throws who join us on our heritage.org website on all of these occasions. for those inhouse we appreciate that courtesy check that our mobile devices have been silence silenced or turned off. for those watching online and in the future, you're welcome to send questions or comments at any time, simply e-mailing speaker at heritage.org and we will post today's program on our heritage home page for everyone's future reference. leading our discussion today is elizabeth slattery, legal fellow in our edwin maceease center. she writes about judicial powers and a variety of constitutional issues and she also manages heritage's appellate advocacy programs including moot court sessions to prepare

this re to get testimony from nil gorsuch. he senate judiciary has been hearing testimony all day. we join the hearing in progress. senator cruz: you are putting yourself in an excellent manner. this hearing is focused on weighty matters and let me start with something lighter and a topic which i believe you have some familiarity. what is the ultimate question of life, universe and everything? [laughter] gorsgors the clerk tells us about their career and their record and submits them to the court, i move their admission to the bar, are there any questions from the bench and sort of like this. intimidating, this is a reminder to me and last time i had this kind of interaction with senator lee when he was down here and i was up there. any rate, i sometimes ask them that question to put them at ease, they know the answer. and if you haven't read the book, you should. it may be one of my daughter's favorite books. so that's a family joke. well, it is a book i very much enjoyed as well. senator cruz: and it is a delightful example of the manity of a judge tha your record has demonstrated.

, president trump's supreme court nominee judge neal gorsuch faces the senate judiciary committee on the first day of confirmation hearings. >> 97% of those 2,700 cases i've decided were decided unanimously. and that i've been in the majority 99% of the time. that's my record and that's how we do things in the west. >> woodruff: and, from the items in a market to celebrating work, how one art exhibit is defining the nature of home here in the u.s. for latino americans. >> i'm at once mexican and american. i'm in-between. that in-between space, that in- between place that i occupy is something that is constantly changing within myself. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water, gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> supported by the rock

confirmation hearings again today for neil gorsuch. we will look at his record, what it means for workers, women, and voting rights. plus, we look back at his time as the student activist when he criticized anti-apartheid protesters at columbia university. then we go to vermont where the immigrant community has been shaken after ice detained three prominent immigrant rights activists, including a member of the state attorney general's immigration task force. >> when i was detained, they stood up for me in the mobilized the community to fight for my freedom. and i was freed. so now i am here to fight for of these men because they deserve their freedom, too. amy: and recent spike in casualties in u.s. airstrikes abroad and nearly 49. in syria with the u.s. struck a mosque and iraq u.s. air sex continue in mosul. often coast of yemen, saudi arabia is accused of using a u.s. apache helicopter to kill refugees on a boat. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. confirmation hearings begin today for neil gorsuch, presi

another matter, since judge neil gorsuch was nominated to the supreme court, senate democrats have searched high and they've searched low for a reason to oppose him. they looked at his background, and they found a columbia alum, a harvard law graduate and an oxford scholar. they looked at his reputation and found an impartial and fair judge, and eloquent writer and humble and even tempered man. they looked at his record as a judge and found someone who follows the facts where they lead without favoring one party over another, someone respected by democrats, independents, and republicans alike. and someone who understands his role is to interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. now colleagues across the aisle also had the opportunity to spend hours with judge gorsuch at his confirmation hearing. once again they found little to hang their hat on when it comes to a reason to oppose him. instead these hearings made clear a point recently stated by a board member of the liberal american constitution society, the senate should confirm him because there is no principled reason to v

law clerks to supreme court nominee neil gorsuch talk about how the judge approaches cases, and if confirmed, what type of supreme court justice they think he'll be. confirmation hearings for judge gorsuch start next monday, march 20th. right now at least three days of hearings are scheduled, with opening statements on the 20th, questioning of judge gorsuch on the 21st, and other witnesses on the 22nd. check c-span.org for our coverage plans. you're watching this event live from the heritage foundation here on c-span3. >> of course, for those watching online, they are welcome to send questions or comments at any time simply e-mailing speaker@heritage.org. we will post the program following today's presentation on the heritage home page. leading our discussion is elizabeth schlatterly, legal fellow in our center for legal and judicial studies. mrs. schlatterly writes about the supreme court separation of powers, judicial nomination, and a variety of constitutional issues. she also manages heritage's appellate efficacy programs, including moot court sessions to prepare litigate tors

care act. day three of the supreme court confirmation hearings for judge neil gorsuch. we will begin with those senate judiciary committee hearing, we want to hear your reaction. we want to hear your opinion on whether judge gorsuch should be confirmed to the supreme court so give us a call. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 you can also catch up with us on twitter and facebook. a very good morning to you. leading up to yesterday's hearings in the senate judiciary committee democrats had question of whether judge gorsuch could be sufficiently independent of the man who nominated him. chuck grassley used his first question to address that and he asked judge gorsuch if he could rule against president donald trump. >> i have no difficulty ruling against or for any party, other than based on what the law and the facts in the particular case require. i am heartened by the support have received from people who recognize that there is no such thing is a republican judge or a democratic judge. we just have judges in this country. i think of

, members debated the nomination of neil gorsuch to the supreme court. they also talked about senate rules on limiting debate and whether a 60 vote threshold should apply to supreme court nominations. we will hear first from majority leader mitch mcconnell and minority leader chuck schumer. >> let's go to another matterom since judge gorsuch was nominated to the supreme court, senate democrats have searched high and low for a reason to oppose him. they looked at his background, they found a columbia alum, a harvard law graduate and an oxford scholar. they looked at his reputation. they found an impartial and fair judge, and eloquent writer and a humble and even-tempered man. ip they looked at his record as a judge and found someone who follows the fact where they lead without favoring one party or another, someone respected by democrats, independents and republicans alike. i someone who understands his role to interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. it they found little to hang their hat on when it comes to reason to oppose them the senate should confirm him because there

address once again the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to be the next associate justice of the united states supreme court. i am extraordinarily pleased that the president has nominated such an outstanding individual to fill the seat that was held by my friend, the late justice antonin scalia for nearly three decades. in the weeks since judge gorsuch's nomination, i've done my best to make the case that he is exactly the type of and kind of justice weeed, one that will in the words of marbury vs. mason, say what the law is, not what he wishes it to be. my view is his outstanding credentials and understanding of the proper role of a judge under our constitution make him a choice that should command universal support. unfortunately, this feeling does not appear to be as broadly shared as it should be. left-wing activists are demanding a scorched-earth approach to judge gorsuch's nomination, and i'm afraid that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle appear to have been swept up in this fervor. their opposition stems from two sources and taken two different forms. the first

court nominee neil gorsuch. garrett tenney is live for us at the white house, how much resistance do we expect to see from democrats? >> not as much as you typically expect, democrats had been so busy keeping up with the other political battles over the past few months, everything from the confirmation hearings to the health care bill as well as the president's travel ban. but there has been a bit of renewed saber-rattling over the last few days by senate democrats, many of whom are still upset with republicans over president obama's supreme court nominee merrick garland who never got a hearing. they are threatening to return the favor so to speak, by filibustering, threatening to filibuster any vote to confirm judge neil gorsuch. republican leadership plan to get him confirmed by any means necessary, though, which is a not so subtle reference to willingness to use the so-called nuclear option. that would change senate rules so judge gorsuch could be confirmed with 51 vote instead of 60. that's why this morning on cbs' "face the nation," texas senator ted cruz said in his mind jud

>> ahead of the day number one of the hearing for neil gorsuch to be the ninth member of the u.s. supreme court. they never one will be opening statements from senators and from neil gorsuch himself. he will be introduced by cory gardner, michael bennett, the two senators from colorado and also by former acting solicitor general neal katyal. some folks have been waiting in line to get in and you can see the room filling up fairly full now. something like before dawn this morning. we caught up wit with a few to d out where they stand on judge gorsuch. >> my name is william and i'm here this money to support neil gorsuch and his nomination. mole cell what to say it and see what the committee has to say, what questions they're going to ask him. quite frankly i don't see how we doesn't get, not nominate but confirmed by the senate. >> who are you with? >> i'm sorry? >> are you with a group? what do you do for a living? >> i'm sorry, i'm an internet just asked for the morning off to come over here. >> where do you entered? >> i'm interning with the young leaders program at the heritag

u.s. supreme court to talk about the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to the high court. among them was judiciary committee chair chuck grassley who called the threat by some democrats to filibuster the nomination purely politics. joining him were senators lindsey graham, ted cruz, mike lee along with former law clerks of judge gorsuch. senator grassley: are they on their way? oh, they are. 12:30 is at different times around the country. senator grassley: we want to thank you all very much for being here. before i start my remarks, i want to say thank you to all the former clerks of the judge who are here to express their views of why he should be on the united states supreme court , and i just got done telling them this is a news conference where they are more important than us senators are from this standpoint that they have day in and day out know the qualifications of this person to be on the supreme court. last week the judiciary committee saw a brilliant display from the supreme court nominee, the judge neil gorsuch. most importantly, he showed a command of the law and an inde

plan to reshape the supreme court is hours away from its first test. his nominee, neil gorsuch, facing the toughest job interview of his life because this job is for life. will republicans be rewarded for their unprecedented move to block any vote on obama's court pick and will democrats fight or fold? it's the eve of confirmation hearings that could tip the balance on the court for a generation. no higher stakes in washington than supreme court hearings which can break promising careers. >> when a judge goes beyond this and reads new values into the constitutions, he deprives the people of their liberty. >> or turn obscure lawyers into household names. >> i am not going on to the court with a list of things that i want to do. my only agenda is to be a good judge. >> and no matter how scripted they can go off the rails. >> as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it high tech. >> special coverage of the confirmation clash begins now. we're joined by senators who are prepping for tomorrow's hearings, civil rights leader, a former clerk to judge gorsuch. do you have the inde

neil gorsuch is anything but an ideologue. he's as fine a judge as we have in this country, albeit conservative in nature. he has as fine an academic background as anybody on the court ever. and he's a terrific human being on top of all that, a good husband, father, a terrific judge on the tenth circuit court of appeals. to be honest with you, i thought it was really nice to have somebody picked from the west. it might bring a western perspective of freedom into the judicial system. and i have no doubt that neil gorsuch will do that. now, to make this a big political issue it seems to me is beyond you00 -- 100%. mr. president, as we all know now, this chamber will consider the nomination of neil gorsuch to serve as the next justice on the united states supreme court. yesterday i talked a little bit about his qualifications, his background and his temperament. and as the nation saw back during the 20 hours of hearings that we had before the judiciary committee, i think people saw the real neil gorsuch, somebody who, again, by virtue of his qualifications, his education, his training

judge gorsuch: i do, mr. chairman. sen. grassley: so if i ask you to tell me if heller was rightly decided, would you answer that question for me? i wouldrsuch: senator, rightly respond that it is a president of the united states supreme court, and as a good judge from you don't approach that question anew as if it had never been decided. that would be the wrong way to approach it. i will tellviews, you, mr. chairman, belong over here. i leave those at home. he said he wanted a fair judge, and that is what i want as a lawyer. i want to decide on the facts of my client's case and leave what he had for breakfast at the breakfast table. part of being a good judge is coming in and taking precedent as it stands, and your personal have about the precedent absolutely nothing to do with a good job of a judge. sen. grassley: let me ask you about citizens united. in this case, the supreme court held that the government cannot restrict independent political expenditure by a nonprofit corporation. do you agree with the decision? judge gorsuch: senator from i would give you the same response. i

be live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. until then, a conversation on supreme court nomination neil gorsuch. confirmation hearings for the judge are scheduled for next week. >> welcome to the heritage foundation in the douglas and allison and those who are viewing this on c-span as well. for those in-house, we asked the kind courtesy of seeing mobile devices turned off. online, they're welcome to send questions or comments at any time, simply e-mailing speaker@heritage.org and we'll, of course, post the program following today's presentation on the heritage home page. leading our discussion is elizabeth slaterly. the legal and judicial studies. mrs. slatery writes about supreme court, separation of power, judicial nominations and a variety of constitutional issues. she also manages heritage's appellate "e.tape apell apellete ethicacy. >> president donald trump selected neil gorsuch, a judge on the 10th to fill the vacancy left by scalia's passing last year. established himself as a thoughtful jurist who pays attention to the meaning of laws and the constitution. he has an impressive judicia

choose to filibuster judge gorsuch, a candidate for whom they voted unanimously just a decade ago. if they do, i am confident the senate will return to the rules that govern that body for two centuries. one of the easiest illustrations of that is to recall the nomination of justice clarence thomas. i believe he has become one of the greatest supreme court justices in history, but we all remember that his nomination was highly controversial at the time. democrats were very animated that my friends who are protesting over here were no doubt very animated about clarence thomas. and yet, justice thomas was confirmed with 52 votes. not a single democrat demanded of filibuster. any individual democrat could've demanded the 60 vote threshold. ted kennedy did not demand a 60 vote threshold for judge thomas. he was confirmed with a simple majority. that, if the democrats make the ill-advised decision to filibuster next week will be the rule to which we return, the rule that has governed the senate and supreme court nominations for two centuries. >> i guess that's the end of it then. thank you

judge gorsuch is. it leads me to wonder looking at the democratic comments during the opening statements yesterday as to who was before them. there's a lot of discussion about the president, a lot of discussion about mayor garland in an attempt to obviously avoid to the extent that they could the subject matter of the hearing which is this particular nominee. i understand, i haven't watched today, but i understand understand he's doing a great job today. yes i haven't seen a single democrat, unless they are one you've observed, indicate they were prepared to either vote for closure or vote for him. leading you to ask the following question: if judge gorsuch can't achieve 60 votes in the senate, could any?judge appointed by a republican president be approved with 60 or more votes in the senate? i can only take you back to the first two years of clinton, ginsburg and breyer were confirmed without closure. this was at the beginning of a term, obama had to without closure. apples and apples. beginning of the term. if they don't find gore's it's acceptable, are they taking the posi

. >> thank you, mr. chairman. judge gorsuch, first of all i want to thank you for preparing yourself for this opportunity and for this service to the united states. you have acquitted yourself very well today. in fact, i'm very impressed with your knowledge of the case and your ability to understand and articulate your positions on the issues. i have a couple of tough questions for you first. is it true that you have been endorsed by john elway? >> you know, senator, a couple of things have made my day recently. hearing that was definitely one of them. in colorado, where i come from, that's big stuff. >> well, it is. and some of us westerners who don't have a pro team in our state kind of agree with that as well. >> senator, i tell you, what meant as much to me, though, was an article i saw not too long ago, someone put in front of me from the albuquerque journal. and it quoted two lawyers who appeared in front of me all the time. one is a civil rights attorney, the other represents indigent criminal defendants. routinely in my court. they win some, they lose some. and they both went out of t

. she is an assistant editor. you can see how judge gorsuch is planning for his senate showdown, available on the website. thank you for your time today. conversation continues on today's confirmation hearings featuring neil gorsuch. joining us. elizabeth wydra is with the constitutional accountability center. also joining as is carrie severino of the judicial crisis network. good morning to both of you. can you give us your insht, your level of support for neil gorsuch? for judge am alln judgeh -- i am all-in for gorsuch at he is so clearly in the line of justice scalia's jurisprudence. he will be a fitting replacement for him. and he has such broad bipartisan support. at a time with all of the political tension, you have people like obama's solicitor general and many other fromrats, david frederick the american constitution society, a lot of people on both sides of the aisle that say this is someone who is a fair judge and evenhanded. i think he's a great person. not know about lots of people on both sides of the iop my organization does not take a position, generally, until a

we. >> good morning. did confirmation hearing of judge gorsuch nominated to be associate justice on the supreme court of the united states. welcome to the senate judiciary committee is a big day for you and your family to be before this committee once for for the confirmation hearing to the tenth circuit where you know, said. i imagine that this hearing may be a little better attended than the last time you were here.e. and before we began you have the opportunity to introduce your family and anybody else spirit this is quite a lot different than it was the last time i was here and i appreciate all of the attention for but my wife louise who stole the show in the east room the debt was nominated and my brother-in-law and then my nephew and i have my cousin and her daughter and a bunch of family coming my daughters are watching back home and my longtime assistant. there she is like consider her family and all those just stand up for a second double byte to recognize them because i consider them family to. so i am very blessed to have some a family is here with me today. >> and rethin

the committee, there is only one possible conclusion and that is that judge gorsuch should not be confirmed.orsuch >> to the remaining witnesses on the panel and the members of the committee, we are about halfwayt through a vote and we are all going to need to take a recess to go vote for what we will do is also give a few extra minutes so folks can get a bite if theya can, i will be back at about 1 1:10. >> weevil recess until 1:10 and continue deliberations at that point. the committee is in recess. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> i will aggregate the recess, but i want to explain something. the vote that we thought would get done by 1:10, the first one will not end until about 1:20, so i will have a chance to get through the testimony, and then if we have hopefully a republican democrat vote over here i can finish voting. if you wonder about the importance i haven't missed a vote since 199 1993 so that is t 7900 without missing a vote and i do not intend to miss another one. professor? >> thank you, chairman grassley and members of the committee. it is an

judicial decency to rule the right way in the cases i mentioned, and judge gorsuch did not. that's all the evidence my colleagues should need to vote no, and i urge them and will urge them in the days ahead to do so. mr. president, i yield the >> the senate judiciary committee held confirmation hearing for judge neil gorsuch, the nominee to the supreme yout, this past week, and just saw, it's from the senate, chuck schumer, on the floor of the senate earlier this week on a talking about his opposition nominee to the's court. this article from real clear politics going into a little bit more about that, a nuclear confrontation is brewing in the senate over the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to the supreme court with democrats threatening a historic filibuster and republicans promising a historic role change in return. republican leaders said they will resort to a nuclear option, changing senate rules to end the debate on a nomination rather than 60 votes. president trump has endorsed that option last month, urging house majority leader mitch mcconnell to "go nuclear if needed." le