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Sen. Shaheen Says She's Still Open-Minded About Gorsuch

February 9, 2017

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) indicated on Thursday that she is still open to supporting Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Shaheen said during a wide-ranging interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that she needs to meet with Gorsuch to discuss his views on the law but is not yet ruling out voting for his confirmation.

Blitzer began the conversation asking the senator about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's comments earlier that day in which he argued Gorsuch's statement on President Trump's tweets attacking the federal judiciary were not explicit shots at the commander in chief.

Gorsuch reportedly said that Trump's comments were "disheartening" and "demoralizing."

Shaheen, the senior senator from New Hampshire, said she is reserving judgement on Gorsuch until their meeting.

"Well, look, I haven't had a chance to meet with Judge Gorsuch yet independently. This is a question I'm going to be asking him," Shaheen said. "I think, at the very least, we should expect our judges who are candidates for the Supreme Court to understand that the judicial branch is a separate but equal branch of government, and I would expect him to be willing to say that."

"So, you're open-minded at this point [about Gorsuch]?" Blitzer asked.

"Well, I haven't met with him so I'm going to listen to what he has to say," Shaheen responded.