U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said Thursday that he will vote against federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Gorsuch is currently in the fourth day of weeklong testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. His confirmation vote is scheduled to go before the full Senate for a vote in mid-April.
"I have serious concerns about Judge Gorsuch’s rigid and restrictive judicial philosophy, manifest in a number of opinions he has written on the 10th Circuit," Casey said. "Judge Gorsuch opinions often reflect a commitment to satisfy his judicial philosophy more than to grapple with the complex circumstances faced by ordinary Americans. Disproportionately, powerful interests are the beneficiaries while workers, consumers and those with disabilities are the losers of this approach."
His remarks echo fellow Democrats' concerns throughout the confirmation hearings this week that Gorsuch's record shows a disproportionate lean away from the individuals in favor of corporate interests.
Casey and the Democrats are outnumbered 52-48 in the Senate, meaning that they would need to filibuster the confirmation vote in order to hold up the nomination. Republicans in turn have one pass-around to a filibuster. That option has been referred to as "the nuclear option" because of the filibuster's long-honored tradition in the Senate as a tool of the minority part.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
A filibuster requires 60 votes to overcome, while the nuclear option would use what is known as "cloture" to bypass the 60-vote requirement and require a simple majority vote for passage.
