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Chris Wallace Challenges Schumer on Leading 'First Partisan Filibuster' Against Gorsuch

April 30, 2017

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace challenged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on his attempted filibuster of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch during his nomination process, pointing out that Schumer "led the first partisan filibuster in the history of Supreme Court nominees."

Schumer led a Democratic effort to block cloture on Gorsuch, leading Republicans to invoke the so-called "nuclear option" and change the vote threshold to end debate from 60 to 51. Gorsuch was then confirmed by a 54-45 vote.

"That doesn't sound like cooperation," Wallace charged on Sunday, after mentioning that the American Bar Association and liberal legal scholars described Gorsuch as in "the judicial mainstream."

Schumer defended himself by arguing that Gorsuch was "so far to the right" ideologically and "nurtured" by conservative groups. The two men talked over each other repeatedly during the contentious segment.

"He's no further to the right than Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Sonia Sotomayor are to the left," Wallace argued, in reference to the two current Supreme Court justices nominated by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Schumer responded by citing analyses from independent experts hired by the Washington Post and the New York Times. Those analyses placed Gorsuch further to the right on the ideological spectrum than other Supreme Court justices.

"You've got to consider the sources," Wallace said.

"This is not a mainstream judge," Schumer charged back after saying Gorsuch's record indicated the newly nominated Supreme Court justice was "far, far to the right."