High-stakes US Senate hearing on Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee begins

With the ideological balance of the Supreme Court at stake, a US Senate committee began its high-stakes confirmation hearing on Monday for Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump's nominee for a lifetime job as a justice, with Democrats vowing close scrutiny.

The Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, noted that Gorsuch has the chance to join the high court only because the Republican-led Senate last year refused to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama's nomination of federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland.

"Our job is to determine whether Judge Gorsuch is a reasonable, mainstream conservative or is he not," Feinstein, said in her opening statement, referring to the conservative appeals court judge from Colorado nominated by Trump on January 31. "Our job is to assess how this nominee's decisions will impact the American people and whether he will protect the legal and constitutional rights of all Americans, not just the wealthy and the powerful," Feinstein added.

The hearing could go as long as four days, providing classic Washington political theater. Gorsuch entered the packed hearing room accompanied by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the plain-spoken Iowan who will chair the Judiciary Committee proceedings, greeting members of the audience and shaking hands with panel members, as a phalanx of photographers snapped pictures.

As the hearing got underway, he introduced his wife and other members of his family. "I appreciate all of the attention," Gorsuch said. In his opening statement, Grassley said it was important to have jurists who do not exceed their powers. "Judges are not free to re-write statutes to get results they believe are more just. Judges are not free to re-order regulations to make them more fair. For sure, judges aren't free to update the Constitution. That's not their job."

"Fortunately for every American, we have before us today a nominee whose body of professional work is defined by an unfailing commitment to these principles. His grasp on the separation of powers, including judicial independence, enlivens his body of work," Grassley said.

Feinstein made it clear senators would probe Gorsuch's views on abortion. She cited a passage from his 2006 book arguing against legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia, in which he said the "intentional taking of a human life by private persons is always wrong." She said both anti-abortion and abortion rights groups have taken that to mean he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion. Democrats were expected to try to make the case that Gorsuch is a pro-business, social conservative insufficiently independent of the Republican president. About 30 people in the audience wore red T-shirts emblazoned with #StopGorsuch.

Gorsuch, a cool-headed and amiable jurist, likely will try to engage members of the Judiciary Committee without being pinned down on specifics that could trip up his nomination to the lifetime post. Gorsuch was due to deliver his opening statement later on Monday after members of the committee make theirs. If Gorsuch is confirmed by the Senate, as expected, he would restore a narrow 5-4 conservative majority on the court. The seat has been vacant for 13 months, since the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

Democrats can be expected to put up a fierce fight. They contend that Trump's party "stole" a seat by freezing out Garland. In his opening statement, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy called Garland's snub the greatest stain in the history of the committee and said Gorsuch was selected for the job by extreme interest groups. Had Garland been confirmed, the court would have leaned to the left for the first time in decades. Since Scalia's death, the court has been split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals. The ideological leaning of the court could be pivotal in determining the outcome of a wide array of matters including the death penalty, abortion, gun control, environmental regulations, voting rights, immigration, religious liberty, presidential powers and others.

Among questions Gorsuch likely will face will be whether he is sufficiently independent from Trump, who has criticized judges for ruling against his bid to block people from a group of Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Judiciary Committee members were scheduled to give opening statements on Monday and then take turns questioning the nominee on Tuesday. Democrats face an uphill battle to block Gorsuch. Republicans hold 52 of the Senate's 100 seats. Under present rules, Gorsuch would need 60 votes in order to secure confirmation. If Democrats stay unified and Gorsuch cannot muster 60, Republicans could change the rules to allow confirmation by a simple majority.