Trump criticised by his Supreme Court nominee
UNITED STATES: US President Donald Trump’s escalating attacks on the judiciary drew a denunciation yesterday from his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, who told lawmakers that the attacks were ‘‘demoralising’’ and ‘‘disheartening’’ to the independence of the federal courts.
‘‘He certainly expressed to me that he is disheartened by the demoralising and abhorrent comments made by President Trump about the judiciary,’’ Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said after meeting privately with Gorsuch.
Gorsuch’s comments to Blumenthal were confirmed by Ron Bonjean, a member of the judge’s ‘‘Sherpa’’ team, a group of aides tasked with helping him navigate the confirmation process.
Earlier in the day, Trump continued his days-long crusade against the judicial branch, after a Seattle judge halted his controversial executive order barring immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
A three-judge panel in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is deliberating over whether Trump’s executive order should be allowed to continue.
Speaking at a convention of major city police chiefs, Trump insinuated that the judicial branch had become too political, and that the decision before it on whether to allow his executive order to proceed was clear-cut.
‘‘If you were a good student in high school or a bad student in high school, you can understand this, and it’s really incredible to me that we have a court case that’s going on so long,’’ Trump said before reading the federal statute that allows the president to restrict immigration for national security purposes.
‘‘But courts seem to be so political, and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what’s right,’’ Trump added.
‘‘Right now, we are at risk because of what happened.’’
Gorsuch’s public condemnation of Trump’s tone highlights the degree to which the issue had become an obstacle to his confirmation, especially given concern many Democrats already have about easily confirming Trump’s pick to the high court.
While it is not new for a president to disagree with the actions of another branch of government, Trump’s crusade against the federal judiciary comes before the legal process has fully played out.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Trump was expressing his frustration with a process that he believed should be subject to common sense.
‘‘He respects the judiciary,’’ Spicer said. ‘‘It’s hard for him and for a lot of people to understand how something so clear in the law can be so misinterpreted.’’ – Washington Post