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REUTERS
WASHINGTON
NEIL GORSUCH, President Donald Trump's US Supreme Court pick, said on Tuesday he would have no trouble ruling against the president as he tried to stake out his independence amid concerns by Democrats that he would be beholden to the man who nominated him.
With the ideological balance of the Supreme Court at stake, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the second day of its confirmation hearing for Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado. Republicans, who control Congress, have praised Gorsuch, 49, as highly qualified for a lifetime appointment as a justice while Democrats have questioned his suitability.
Chuck Grassley, the panel's Republican chairman, asked Gorsuch"whether you'd have any trouble ruling against a president who appointed you."
"That's a softball, Mr. Chairman,"Gorsuch said."I have no difficulty ruling against or for any party, other than based on what the law and facts in the particular case require. And I'm heartened by the support I have received from people who recognize that there's no such thing as a Republican judge or a Democratic judge. We just have judges in this country."
Trump has repeatedly assailed the judiciary both as a candidate and since taking office on Jan. 20. Trump condemned federal judges who have put on hold his two executive orders to ban the entry into the United States of people from several Muslim-majority countries.
"A good judge doesn't give a whit about politics or the political implications of his or her decision, (and) decides where the law takes him or her fearlessly,"Gorsuch added.
In a Twitter post during the hearing on Tuesday, Trump praised Gorsuch as"the kind of judge we need"for the high court.
