WASHINGTON -- Republicans and conservative groups stepped up their campaign to secure confirmation of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee as the federal judge courted two Senate Democrats crucial to his winning a seat on the high court.
Judge Neil Gorsuch met Monday with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat running for re-election in a state that Trump won handily. Unlike some Senate Democrats who have already said they will oppose Gorsuch, both have said they will wait to decide.
After his meeting with Gorsuch, Tester said the two talked about corporations' involvement in elections, the environment and women's health, among other matters. He said he is "open" to supporting Gorsuch.
"I would encourage all of my fellow senators to meet with him and give him a fair shake. He deserves that," Tester said.
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Feinstein did not comment after her meeting, but she said last week that she wanted to take time to consider his record.
"We need time to do our work so that we can make a decision and make remarks that will stand the test of time, and not be cheap shots, or bad or rushed," Feinstein said. "Because this is a lifetime appointment, this is as big as it gets."
Democrats have been pressured to oppose other Trump nominees. They announced plans Monday to hold the Senate floor around the clock to protest Republicans' push to confirm Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos early today. DeVos, a billionaire Republican donor, has faced criticism from Democrats and teachers' unions for her support of using taxpayer money to fund charter schools and private school vouchers.
Two GOP senators have announced plans to oppose her, which could result in a 50-50 Senate vote today. That would leave Vice President Mike Pence in the role of tie-breaker -- something that has never happened with a Cabinet nominee in the Senate's history, according to the Senate historian.
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"Democrats will hold the floor for the next 24 hours until the final vote to do everything we can to persuade just one more Republican to join us," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said on the floor around midday Monday. "And I strongly encourage people across the country to join us -- to double down on your advocacy -- and to keep making your voices heard for these last 24 hours."
Republicans accused Democrats of slow-walking qualified nominees to placate liberal base voters who still haven't come to terms with Trump's election.
"It seems this gridlock and opposition has far less to do with the nominees actually before us than the man who nominated them," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Enough is enough."
In addition to DeVos, Republicans hope this week to confirm Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general, GOP Rep. Tom Price of Georgia as secretary of Health and Human Services, and financier Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary.
In each case Democrats intend to use the maximum time allowed under Senate rules to debate the nominations, which may result in a series of late-night votes this week and delay Mnuchin's approval until Saturday.
Republicans complain that previous presidents have been able to put their Cabinets in place more quickly. Democrats blame Trump for offering nominees with complicated financial arrangements and ethical entanglements they claim they have not had enough time to dissect. Thus far, six Cabinet and high-level officials have been confirmed, including the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation.
The delays are not expected to stop the confirmation of most of the nominees. That's because Democrats themselves changed Senate rules when they were in the majority several years ago so that Cabinet nominees can be approved with a simple majority in the 100-seat Senate, not the 60 votes previously required.
However, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has said Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court must still be able to win support from 60 senators, including at least eight Democrats. In an effort to win those votes, the Senate GOP's campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is running three ads to pressure certain Democrats to vote for him.
Separate ads target Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly in their home states, asking voters to tell their senators to put state and country ahead of their party. Both are running for re-election next year in states won by Trump.
An ad airing in Washington says Democrats are playing politics with the nomination.
"Tell Democrats the election is over, the people decided," the ad says.
The conservative group Judicial Crisis Network has pledged to spend $10 million to help confirm Gorsuch, and has already released $2 million in ads in Tester's home state of Montana, Donnelly's home state of Indiana, and also Missouri and North Dakota, additional states where Trump won and Senate Democrats are running for re-election. They are also running ads in Colorado, Gorsuch's home state.
One of the group's ads features Jane Nitze, a former Obama administration lawyer who also clerked for Gorsuch.
"He will have a great deal of respect for folks on all sides of the ideological spectrum," Nitze says in the ad.
A Section on 02/07/2017