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Fully supports Gorusch |
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April 11, 2017 |
By U.S. Congressman Raul Labrador
On Friday, the U.S. Senate confirmed an
outstanding jurist, Judge Neil Gorsuch, to the
U.S. Supreme Court, ensuring his place as the
113th justice in U.S. history. I was pleased
when President Trump nominated Judge Gorsuch
back in January and I publicly supported his
nomination.
One of the most important reasons I supported
Donald Trump during last year’s campaign is the
President’s power to appoint Supreme Court
justices and indeed, all federal judges.
As we’ve seen in recent years, on so many issues
– from abortion to marriage, from immigration to
health care – the judiciary is truly a co-equal
branch with Congress and the White House. This
year alone, judges have blocked President
Trump’s travel moratorium on those coming from
seven countries plagued by terrorism, showing
the dangerous power of unelected jurists to
ignore the Constitution and put our country at
risk.
The President’s power to appoint judges is
underappreciated but undeniable. President Obama
alone nominated 329 judges, including two
Supreme Court justices, who won Senate
confirmation. Those judges will sit on the bench
for decades, ruling on issues critical to our
national security, the administration of our
government, and the vitality of our culture.
Last year, as a presidential candidate, Donald
Trump promised to appoint justices in the mold
of Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the greatest
justices of all time.
Justice Scalia was the embodiment of what a
justice should be – an impartial arbitrator, not
a champion of trendy political causes. Justice
Scalia understood that Congress’ role is to make
the law, the President’s job is to execute the
law, and his role, as a Supreme Court justice,
is to interpret the law. That is all.
And when judges overstep their boundaries – and
allow their personal feelings to reign supreme –
the results are disastrous, as we saw when the
Ninth Circuit struck down President Trump’s
travel moratorium.
We have every reason to believe Judge Gorsuch
will be a worthy heir to the legacy of Justice
Scalia.
During his confirmation hearings, for example,
Judge Gorsuch said, “A judge who likes every
outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge …
stretching for results he prefers rather than
those the law demands.”
That is a humble and refreshing comment from a
Supreme Court nominee, and a welcome change from
President Obama’s nominees, who – in Obama’s own
words – were selected because they exhibited
“empathy” and “understood that justice isn’t
about some abstract legal theory.”
The Senate Democrats who opposed Judge Gorsuch
were engaging in political obstructionism for
the sake of obstructionism.
They never questioned his character or his
qualifications. Even the American Bar
Association, which the Democrats once called
"the gold standard" for judicial nominations,
gave Judge Gorsuch its highest rating.
Instead, they wanted to score political points
against President Trump. Their strategy failed,
and it deserved to.
I am confident that Judge Gorsuch will make the
people of Idaho proud. Hopefully, this will be
only the first of many outstanding judicial
nominees from this still-young administration.
On Day 78 of the Trump Era, Idahoans who support
the Constitution and understand that a judge’s
role is inherently a conservative one, have a
big win to celebrate. |
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