The top Democrat in the Senate said Thursday that he will oppose the confirmation of federal Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court and encouraged other Democrats to reject President Trump's choice, setting up a showdown with majority Republicans.
"I have concluded that I cannot support Neil Gorsuch's nomination," New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer said on the Senate floor. "My vote will be no and I urge my colleagues to do the same."
Shortly before Schumer's declaration, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who faces reelection next year in a state Trump won in November, also announced his opposition to Gorsuch. Casey said he had "serious concerns about Judge Gorsuch's rigid and restrictive judicial philosophy, manifest in a number of opinions he has written on the 10th Circuit."
The opposition from the two Democrats came after two days of hearings in which Gorsuch emerged without committing any notable gaffes and with solid Republican support in the GOP-led Senate.
The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote in the next two weeks to recommend Gorsuch favorably to the full Senate. Though Gorsuch is expected to eventually be confirmed, the process on the Senate floor is less assured.
