Neil Gorsuch testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court during a hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC on March 22, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN        (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Gorsuch: 'I don't speak for Justice Scalia'
00:55 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

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