Dem senator: Gorsuch must be ‘independent’

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) says Judge Neil Gorsuch must convince senators during his second day of hearings that he will not be a partisan justice on the Supreme Court.

“Our problem is when the Republicans have five appointees on the Supreme Court they develop a really appalling track record of incredibly partisan decisions,” Whitehouse told host Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s “New Day.”

“It means it puts the burden on him to convince us that he’s not going to ride along with that posse and that he will actually stand as an independent judge and make the kind of decisions that he said he would make in his testimony yesterday.”

{mosads}Whitehouse said more than once in the past, a partisan Supreme Court had hurt voters’ trust by not remaining ideologically neutral.

“We’re now at a stage where a majority of Americans don’t think they can get a fair shake in front of that court if their opponent is a corporation,” the Senate Judiciary Committee member added.

Tuesday marks the second day of the nominee’s confirmation hearings and will let every Judiciary member grill Gorsuch on his judicial philosophy for 30 minutes.

Gorsuch is a 10-year veteran of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit covering Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah and parts of Oklahoma.