Political Quotes

On the recordApril 4, 2017
2 months ago, the President nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, to the Supreme Court. This week, we will be voting on his confirmation. I want to say that I am grateful to my colleague, the senior Senator from Iowa, for his leadership during this process and for getting this nomination to the floor. We are fortunate to have him as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. We have before us a supremely qualified candidate for the Supreme Court. Judge Gorsuch has a distinguished resume. He is widely regarded as a brilliant and thoughtful jurist. Most importantly, however, he is known for his impartiality and his absolute commitment to the rule of law. Judge Gorsuch understands that the job of a judge is to apply the law as it is written--and here is the fundamental thing--even when he disagrees with it. ``A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge.'' Judge Gorsuch has said that more than once. Why? Because a judge who likes every outcome he reaches is likely making decisions based on something other than the law. That is a problem because there is no such thing as equal protection or equal justice when judges make decisions based on their personal feelings about a case instead of based upon the law. A judge's job is to apply the law as it is written, whether he likes the result or not. Judge Gorsuch understands this.…
Said by
John Thune
Republican · South Dakota

Share

More from John Thune

Jun 15, 2026

I’ve indicated to him in most cases — not all — that what he wants done, we just don’t have the votes for, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.

rollcall.com
Jun 15, 2026

For the most part our members buy into the idea that we are a team. If we’re going to succeed, we’ve got to succeed together, and that means sometimes holding hands and just doing hard things.

rollcall.com
Jun 17, 2026

I know he said that, but he’s said that about a lot of other things.

rollcall.com
Jun 23, 2026

It’s fair to say that there is a consensus view around here that it is time for the ODNI to be scaled down.

rollcall.com

Other voices in this conversation