Senator Chuck Grassley.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley was in the crowd at the White House tonight to watch President Trump reveal his choice for the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
During an interview with Radio Iowa this evening, Grassley said nominee 49-year-old Neil Gorsuch has a reputation as a “fair and consistent” federal circuit court judge.
“A judge that is principled, a mainstream conservative,” Grassley said, “supremely qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.”
Gorsuch is a graduate of Harvard Law School and former President Obama was a classmate. Grassley is chairman of the Senate Committee that will hold a hearing on Gorsuch’s nomination.
“He’s considered by other judges to be a very clear, concise writer of opinions, so we’re going to have to go through every one of those,” Grassley said, “and he’s going to have to answer a lot of questions.”
Grassley pointed to Gorsuch’s remarks tonight, indicating he’d interpret the law rather than make law as a justice.
“Some people might call him a constitutionalist, a person that’s going to apply the law fairly,” Grassley said.
Key Democrats in the Senate immediately questioned whether Gorsuch would be an “independent” voice and accused Gorsuch of a “demonstrated hostility toward women’s rights.” Grassley said those objections weren’t raised in 2006, when Gorsuch was nominated to be a circuit judge.
“He was unanimously confirmed by a voice vote,” Grassley said.
Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Joni Ernst, issued a written statement last night. Ernst said Gorch is “well-respected” and “eminently-qualified.”
A coalition of progressive groups that go by the name “Why Courts Matter Iowa” say Gorsuch would be Wall Street’s “best friend” and a “threat” to women’s rights and LGBT rights.