Sen. Tester: Support Gorsuch for U.S. Supreme Court

Our own Sen. Jon Tester recently said the Senate should “have a hearing and a vote” on President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch of the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sen. Tester should go one step further by supporting Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation without any unnecessary delay.

Judge Gorsuch has both the personal and professional experience that will suit him well on the nation’s highest court. Born in Denver, Colorado, Judge Gorsuch comes from similar Western roots as many of us. An avid outdoorsman, he enjoys fishing, hiking, and skiing during his free time.

He is also known for his intellectual prowess. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Columbia University. He went on to attend Harvard Law School as the recipient of the highly competitive and distinguished Truman Scholarship, and earned a doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford University as well.

Judge Gorsuch’s first experience with the high court was as a clerk for two U.S. Supreme Court justices. He also worked as an attorney in private practice, and served at the U.S. Justice Department focusing on counterterrorism, environmental regulation and civil rights.

Such qualifications have earned Judge Gorsuch bipartisan support. He was confirmed to his current seat on the 10th Circuit by a unanimous voice vote in 2006. Eleven current Democrat senators — including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York — raised no objection at that time.

He’s spent the last 11 years building the reputation as a consensus builder on the federal bench. Of the roughly 800 legal opinions he has written during that time, only 14 drew disagreement from his fellow judges. That record is even more impressive when you consider that more than half of the active judges on the 10th Circuit are Democrat appointees.

Judge Gorsuch is well known for his originalist interpretation of the Constitution and respect for the rule of law — he doesn’t let his personal beliefs influence how statutes are interpreted. His record on the bench reveals his commitment to separation of powers and the necessity of the judicial branch to keep the president and Congress in check.

Such level-headedness has earned Judge Gorsuch praise from both sides of the political aisle. As a former high-ranking Obama official put it, “(Gorsuch) brings a sense of fairness and decency to the job, and a temperament that suits the nation’s highest court.”

Confirming Judge Gorsuch on his merits alone should be a no-brainer. But in case Sen. Tester is still undecided, it would also be in keeping with the will of his constituents.

Fully 1-in-5 voters said the ability of the next president to fill the Supreme Court vacancy was the most important factors to their decision in last November’s election. President Trump won a majority of those voters, and the state of Montana by a 20-point landslide. These voters knew what they were voting for. Before the election, Trump shared a list of his potential Supreme Court nominees, with Judge Gorsuch as one of them.

Some argue Judge Gorsuch will be a rubber stamp for President Trump’s agenda. Here again, it’s a former Obama official, former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal, who comes to Gorsuch’s defense: “His years on the bench reveal a commitment to judicial independence — a record that should give the American people confidence that he will not compromise principle to favor the president who appointed him.”

Sen. Tester has said he will confirm “somebody that knows real America and somebody that knows the Constitution and somebody that knows the gravity of the position.” That somebody is Judge Neil Gorsuch. Sen. Tester should do more than just support having a hearing and a vote — he should support Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation outright.

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David Herbst is the Montana state director of Americans for Prosperity.