Fort Belknap endorses Gorsuch for Supreme Court

The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation has endorsed President Donald Trump’s nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court.

“In sum, while we do not expect that Judge (Neil) Gorsuch will agree with tribal interests on every issue, we also believe that he is immensely well-qualified, and we are confident that Judge Gorsuch is a mainstream, commonsense Westerner who will rule fairly on Indian Country matters,” the Fort Belknap Indian Community said in a statement cited in a press release issued by the office of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. “We endorse his confirmation to serve. We greatly appreciate your time and consideration.”

The Daines release says Fort Belknap joins the tribes of the Fort Peck, Crow and Flathead Indian reservations in endorsing Gorsuch.

Many groups have called for a fast confirmation of Gorsuch, including many conservatively slanted groups such as Americans for Prospertity and Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association.

Republicans effectively blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the spot opened by the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Feb. 13, 2016. Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland in March 2016, but the Republican leadership of the Senate never scheduled Merrick Garland’s nomination for discussion.

Some people and groups, such as Marbut, have called on U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to support Gorsuch and not follow what they call obstructionist tactics by Democrats to delay or kill his nomination.

A representative of Tester’s office said today the senator has not made his decision on whether he would support Gorsuch.

In January, Tester said in a release that “in the coming weeks, I will be thoroughly reviewing the qualifications of President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Gorsuch.  It’s critically important that he has an understanding of the Constitution and is willing to defend it. I look forward to sitting down with Judge Gorsuch, looking him in the eye, asking him tough questions and finding out if he shares our Montana values.”

Daines endorsed Gorsuch in a speech on the floor of the Senate March 15.

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox also has endorsed Gorsuch, as has the Montana Chamber of Commerce.

Some other Montana organizations, such as Montana Human Rights Network, Forward Montana and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, have come out in opposition to Gorsuch.