Democrats react to Trump's Supreme Court pick

Within minutes of President Trump's announcement that he is nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Democratic leaders released statements ranging from harsh to scathing.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it came as no surprise that Trump, who displayed throughout his campaign "relentless contempt for women," nominated someone "hostile to women's rights." In two cases — Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor — Gorsuch sided with the plaintiffs, Christian employers and organizations who argued that due to religious beliefs, they should be exempt from the contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act. "In the Hobby Lobby case, Judge Neil Gorsuch revealed his eagerness to single out women's health for discrimination and enable employers to meddle in their workers' most intimate health decisions," Pelosi said, adding, "House Democrats stand with the American people in demanding the toughest scrutiny of Judge Gorsuch before the Republican Senate holds any vote to send him to the highest court in the land."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted that it's essential the next Supreme Court justice is "independent, eschews ideology... and protects fundamental rights." This person must also "stand up to a president who has already shown a willingness to bend the Constitution," Schumer said, adding that in previous decisions, Gorsuch has shown he puts "corporations over workers" and has been "hostile toward women's rights."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said that in light of the "unconstitutional actions of our new president in just his first week, the Senate owes the American people a thorough and unsparing examination of this nomination," and he had hoped Trump would pick a "mainstream nominee like Merrick Garland," but instead he "outsourced this process to far-right interest groups." On Facebook, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Trump had the "chance to select a consensus nominee to the Supreme Court. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, he failed that test." Based on Gorsuch's record — including "ruling against workers in all manner of discrimination cases," demonstrating "hostility toward women's access to basic health care," and "twisting himself into a pretzel to make sure the rules favor giant companies over workers and individual Americans" — Warren said she will "oppose his nomination."