Pat Toomey: Gorsuch Will Follow The Constitution Over Ideology
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey weighed in on the debate over the confirmation over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, telling Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that he supports Donald Trump's selection for fill the vacancy on the Court because Gorsuch has shown that he elevates the law above his personal beliefs.
"It's actually kind of tragic that we even have a discussion about the ideology of a Supreme Court Justice. Because it shouldn't matter. Neil Gorsuch has correctly stated, a really good judge doesn't always get the outcomes he wants. He follows the law and the Constitution, wherever it takes you and if it takes you to an outcome that you disagree with, too bad. Run for Congress if you want to change the policy. Neil Gorsuch totally gets this. If our Democratic colleagues would agree that policy should be made by the elected branches of government, the people who are accountable to voters, if they would agree on that, then we could have very liberal justices and it would be fine, because they would still live with the law."
Toomey stated that the responsibility of judges is to interpret what the law says without interjecting their own opinions.
"I think what people that I've talked to across Pennsylvania, who may not be steeped in constitutional theory and they don't spend all day researching this because they're busy supporting their family, at some level, they understand that the people who make policy are supposed to be the people who are accountable to the voters. That's how the people remain sovereign. As soon as five guys in robes get to decide what the Constitution says, rather than the black and white letters of the words, then the people aren't free anymore. The people aren't sovereign anymore."
He also addressed the failed attempt by Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, saying that the GOP should not give up on their efforts.
"We can't walk away from this. We have promised the American people that we're going to repeal Obamacare and for good reason. It's a complete disaster. That really shouldn't be beyond dispute. We can disagree about what's optimal in it's replacement, but one of the mistakes we made is allowing the media to suggest that whatever this next bill is, that has to be the be-all and end-all on the alternative to Obamacare, when, in fact, it's only one of the steps."
