The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding another round of hearings Thursday on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, this time with 28 outside witnesses who will testify both for and against him, as three Democrats announced they’re voting no on his nomination.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Bob Casey both said Thursday they’d vote no on Gorsuch’s nomination. Casey had been one of a dozen Democratic targets Republicans had hoped to woo as Gorsuch will need at least 60 votes to be confirmed and there are only 52 GOP members in the chamber.
Schumer of New York, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s nominee to the high court, also made clear that Gorsuch will face a filibuster from Democrats, meaning the judge will need at least eight Democratic votes to advance to a final vote on confirmation.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran in the Democratic presidential primary last year, also announced he’d vote against Gorsuch.
No Democrats have come out in favor of him yet.
Schumer’s announcement came minutes after Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat running for re-election in a state Trump won, told reporters he, too, would vote against Gorsuch.
Republican leaders have warned they may use the “nuclear option” to change Senate rules to weaken the filibuster of Supreme Court nominees – meaning Gorsuch would need just 51 votes to be confirmed – if that’s required to get him approved.
At the committee, each witness gets five minutes to speak, and committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said he doesn’t expect senators on the committee to ask a lot of questions.
Witnesses include a range of supporters, like retired federal judges, law professors and former law clerks of Gorsuch’s. One of them is Judge John Kane, currently a senior judge in the US District of Colorado, where Gorsuch lives.
The Democrats on the committee are also putting forward witnesses, many of whom are representatives from nonprofit groups, including the Sierra Club and the National Women’s Law Center.
Another witness is Jeff Perkins, whose son with autism was at the heart of a lawsuit resulting in a high-profile interpretation by Gorsuch in his current role as a federal judge for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
That interpretation was reversed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and it became a topic of questioning by Democrats in Gorsuch’s hearing.
Gun control advocate Sandy Phillips, whose daughter died in the Aurora movie theater massacre, is also slated to testify.
Here’s a list of all witness from the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Panel II
Ms. Nancy Scott Degan
American Bar Association
Standing Committee On The Federal Judiciary
New Orleans, LA
Ms. Shannon Edwards
American Bar Association
Standing Committee On The Federal Judiciary
Edmond, OK
Panel III
Majority
The Honorable Deanell Reece Tacha
U.S. Court Of Appeals Judge (Retired)
Duane And Kelly Roberts Dean And Professor Of Law
Pepperdine Law School
Malibu, CA
The Honorable Robert Harlan Henry
U.S. Court Of Appeals Judge (Retired)
President
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City, OK
The Honorable John L. Kane
U.S. District Court Judge (Senior)
District Of Colorado
Denver, CO
Ms. Leah Bressack
Former Law Clerk
Washington , DC
Minority
Ms. Elisa Massimino
President And CEO
Human Rights First
Washington, DC
Mr. Jameel Jaffer
Executive Director
Knight First Amendment Institute
Columbia University
New York, NY
Mr. Jeff Perkins
Berthoud , CO
Mr. Guerino J. Calemine, III
General Counsel
Communications Workers Of America
Washington, DC
Panel IV
Majority
Mr. Jeff Lamken
Partner
MoloLamken
Washington, DC
Professor Lawrence Solum
Carmack Waterhouse Professor Of Law
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC
Professor Jonathan Turley
J.B. And Maurice C. Shapiro Professor Of Public Interest Law
The George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC
Ms. Karen Harned
Executive Director
National Federation Of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center
Washington, DC
Minority
Ms. Heather McGhee
President
Demos
New York, NY
Ms. Fatima Goss Graves
Senior Vice President For Program & President-Elect
National Women’s Law Center
Washington, DC
Mr. Pat Gallagher
Director
Environmental Law Program
Sierra Club
Oakland, CA
Ms. Eve Hill
Partner
Brown Goldstein Levy
New York, NY
Panel V
Majority
Mr. Peter Kirsanow
Commissioner
U.S. Commission On Civil Rights
Partner
Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff
Cleveland, OH
Ms. Alice Fisher
Partner
Latham & Watkins
Washington , DC
Ms. Hannah Smith
Senior Counsel
Becket
Washington , DC
Mr. Tim Meyer
Former Law Clerk
Nashville , TN
Mr. Jamil Jaffer
Former Law Clerk
Arlington , VA
Minority
Ms. Kristen Clarke
President & CEO
Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights Under Law
Washington, DC
Ms. Sarah Warbelow
Legal Director
Human Rights Campaign
Washington DC
Ms. Amy Hagstrom Miller
President & CEO
Founder
Whole Woman’s Health
Charlottesville, VA
Professor William Marshall
William Rand Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor Of Law
University Of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
Ms. Sandy Phillips
Boerne , TX