Whitehouse Votes "No' On Gorsuch, Urges Consensus Supreme Court Nominee

Press Release

Today in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) voted against reporting to the full Senate the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and called on the President and Senate Republicans to find a nominee who can win broad, bipartisan support. The Committee voted 11-9, along party lines, to advance Gorsuch's nomination. Whitehouse also implored the Majority to avoid changing long-standing Senate rules to confirm such a controversial nomination.

"There is actually another way to do this. Nothing prevents a President from announcing a consensus nominee for the Supreme Court with both Senate leaders standing beside him," said Whitehouse. "This President chose to go a different way, choosing a candidate off lists put together by what I consider to be front groups for big special interests and there's a significant backdrop to that concern."

Whitehouse also discussed Gorsuch's failure to take a stand against the anonymous political spending--or "dark money"--that has proliferated since the 2010 Citizens United decision and that has financed a campaign to advance Gorsuch's nomination. Last Thursday, Whitehouse and Senate colleagues requested that Gorsuch call on those donors to reveal themselves prior to today's vote so that the American people could see who has been seeking to influence the nomination process.

"For this nominee to be unable to say, for instance, that dark money is a plague on our democracy is to me disqualifying," Whitehouse said. "That silence is particularly pungent while the beneficiary of a dark-money campaign for his confirmation. This nominee's candidacy was born on a list prepared by right-wing, pro-corporate front groups, was announced to this nominee by the leader of one of those groups, and is supported by millions of dollars in dark-money spending. Against that backdrop, his silence on dark money is telling. And the political leader of the Republican Party is preparing to break the rules of the Senate to guide him onto the Court. Please don't tell me that he is making that effort in the interest of some high judicial philosophy. This is about making sure that people win at the Court who are of a certain type, like CEOs and billionaires."

Senate Republicans have indicated that they may break Senate precedent to end debate on Gorsuch's nomination with a simple 51-vote majority, rather than the 60 votes required by Senate rules. With the exception of Justice Clarence Thomas, every nominee confirmed to the Court since the Eisenhower Administration has received unanimous support or received more than 60 votes in the Senate.

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