Dems, give Gorsuch proper hearing

Congressional Democrats are in the mood for an all-out brawl over President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

Democrats are still rankled — rightfully so — over the way Senate Republicans obstructed President Obama’s highly qualified choice for the court, Merrick Garland, after Antonin Scalia died a year ago.

They continue to feel the choice of Garland was stolen from them, and they aren’t wrong. It was shameful of Senate Republicans to refuse to hold a hearing or even meet the nominee over the last 12 months. Instead, they chose to leave the Supreme Court a justice short, pending the election of a new president.

That being said, Democrats should not now seek revenge in a way that is bad for the Supreme Court and worse for the American people. Now is not the time to talk of a filibuster or other obstruction tactics. From what’s been reported, Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch, appears to be highly qualified and deserving of an up-or-down vote after intensive vetting.

The country is so divided, and the two parties are so at odds, that Democrats have been boycotting confirmation hearings for some of Trump’s Cabinet picks. And almost immediately after Trump announced his pick Tuesday evening, liberal groups began sending out a stream of anti-Gorsuch statements.

South Florida Congresswoman Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach — who will not have a vote — summed up the feelings of many Democrats.

“The Republicans hijacked President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court and now, sadly, President Trump is bowing to his more extreme supporters,” her statement said in part. “Based on his judicial record, Neil Gorsuch will trip a narrowly divided court in a dangerous direction.”

Predictably, the two Florida senators who will have a vote look at Gorsuch through vastly different lenses. Democrat Bill Nelson was reserved, saying only, “I will base my decision on a full examination of Judge Gorsuch’s judicial record and his responses to senators’ questions.” By contrast, Republican Marco Rubio was effusive.

“Judge Gorsuch is a highly qualified, mainstream jurist,” Rubio said in a statement. “By all accounts he has the right temperament and experience for the job, and I’m pleased to see him nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Already, Republicans are tossing around phrases like “nuclear option,” a procedural move that would break the Democrats’ ability to filibuster. The move would end the need for Supreme Court nominees to receive a filibuster-proof 60 votes, allowing confirmation by a simple majority. Trump, always anxious to fight, is pushing Republican senators, who have a 52-seat majority, to “go nuclear” if the Gorsuch confirmation stalls. A lengthy, ugly, divisive battle over his selection would hardly be a shock.

The American people, who endured a chaotic campaign and more chaos during Trump’s first two weeks in office, deserve better.

The selection of a Supreme Court justice is one of the most important decisions a president gets to make. Gorsuch is only 49, meaning he could serve on the court for 30 years or more, shaping the country on a variety of critical issues.

Gorsuch now sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. He is seen as a conservative in the Scalia mold. He’s the type of person Trump promised to nominate, and as president, that is his right.

But the president didn’t just pick the name out of a hat. Gorsuch has degrees from Columbia, Harvard and Oxford. He is described as eloquent, personable and witty — qualities on display during his unusual prime-time debut Tuesday night.

When Senate Democrats start to grill Gorsuch, they should take a measure of his temperament, his reasoning and his character. They’ll also be looking for his views on issues like gun control, abortion and the proper role of government, among others.

Gorsuch is known as a big defender of religious liberties and is opposed to assisted suicide. For those fearful that his selection would somehow cause the Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, that doesn’t figure to happen. If Gorsuch is confirmed, the court would have the same makeup as when Scalia was alive — a 4-4 split among conservatives and liberals, with Justice Anthony Kennedy often serving as the swing vote. Gorsuch is a former law clerk of Kennedy’s.

While the court’s makeup won’t drastically change if Gorsuch is confirmed, there could be a hard right turn if Trump gets to make a second pick in the next four years. The odds of that happening are good, given that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 83, Kennedy is 80 and Stephen Breyer is 78.

Gorsuch certainly has excellent qualifications and appears to be a distinguished choice. He deserves a fair hearing and a vote. He also deserves to be treated better than how Republicans treated Merrick Garland.

Now is not the time to talk of a filibuster or other obstruction tactics.