There is no such thing anymore as a non-controversial Supreme Court pick. And Neil Gorsuch, darling of the conservative judicial establishment, is no exception. Liberals, already angry about the Merrick Garland snub, don’t like his Scalia-like record. The question is whether Senate Democrats will risk filibustering him. Meanwhile the real story, writes Robert Barnes in The Washington Post, is that whoever Trump picked, it’s still Anthony Kennedy’s court.
Vox has a good explainer on Colorado’s own Judge Gorsuch and why Trump selected him.
One thing is certain: No one can doubt Gorsuch’s conservative credentials. Via The New York Times. And here’s the graphic to prove it.
A filibuster? The nuclear option? Could the Gorsuch nomination wind up killing the Senate as the so-called world’s greatest deliberative body? Via The Washington Post.
Trump rolls out his Supreme Court pick as if he were running a reality-TV show. The real surprise wasn’t Gorsuch. It was that the evening didn’t turn into a circus. Via Politico.
Senator Law Professor Warren’s take on Gorsuch (hint: It isn’t good). Via The Boston Globe. Another law professor on why liberals should support Gorsuch. Via The New York Times.
From The National Review: Gorsuch is a worthy heir to Scalia. He’s an originalist, he’s a textualist. What more could a conservative want?
Trump’s team has argued that his controversial executive order on immigration was built on Obama’s reaction to the Paris attacks. This, writes The New Yorker’s Steve Coll, is a “slightly complicated form of nonsense.”
In the least shocking story of the day, the Trump administration is signaling that some of the temporary bans may be extended indefinitely. Via The Los Angeles Times.
How Chuck Schumer found his spine. Slate writes that it took a lot of angry liberals getting in his face.
It was just over a year ago, and Steve Bannon was hosting a satellite radio show and discussing the Middle East refugee issue. His guest said there needed to be better vetting. Bannon said: “Why even let ’em in?” Now he’s the chief White House strategist and talk-radio talk becomes policy. Via The Washington Post.
Photo by Elvert Barnes via Flickr: Creative Commons
