President Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is a chance for Democrats to “move on” from Republicans’ decision not to hold hearings for President Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland, an adviser to Trump says.
“Well, if I were a Democratic senator who was angry about the way Judge Garland was treated, I would move on,” Leonard Leo told C-SPAN in a panel interview airing Sunday.
Senate Republicans refused to hold a hearing on Garland, whom Obama nominated to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.
{mosads}Leo, who is on leave from serving as the executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, helped advise the Trump team on who to choose to fill the Supreme Court seat. Trump announced his pick of Gorsuch in late January.
“I think what we have seen over the course of the past 10 or 15 or even 20 years is that things have just continued to escalate,” Leo added.
“And part of the reason why they’ve escalated is because no one has been prepared to just say, ‘Look, you know, we’re spiraling downward here with this process. Somebody has to make the first move. Somebody has to extend the olive branch. Somebody has to finally bring some sanity into this process.’ And if I were a Democrat, I would try to do that in this instance.”
Leo said Gorsuch is “an extraordinary man who calls ‘em the way he sees ‘em.”
“This is a good opportunity for them to move on — whether they do that or not is a different question,” Leo said of Democrats.