On his first day as a Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch asked 22 questions, more than any other justice making his or her first appearance on the highest court in the land. Because Gorsuch also wants so badly to imitate the justice he replaced, the late Antonin Scalia, he was also aggressive in his questioning and snarky in his responses, traits that Scalia was known for.
According to the Chicago Tribune, it took Gorsuch only 1o minutes to jump in with his first question during his debut Monday, and he didn’t stop there. Nope—the newly appointed associate justice, thanks to rule-bending Republicans, then fired off a series of long-winded questions, because what the public will soon learn is that Gorsuch is all about the Gorsuch.
Chief Justice John Roberts welcomed Gorsuch to the bench.
“Justice Gorsuch, we wish you a long and happy career in our common calling,” Roberts said.
Gorsuch responded: “Thank you very much, Chief Justice, and thank you to each of my new colleagues for the very warm welcome I’ve received this last week. I appreciate it greatly.”
And then Gorsuch proceeded to ask a bunch of fucking questions. So many, in fact, that the Tribune notes that even he appeared self-conscious about the number of questions he asked, noting, “I’m sorry for taking up so much time; I apologize,” he said. “My last question.”
But it wasn’t, because he’s a windbag. Adam Feldman, a scholar who studies the Supreme Court, noted that before Monday’s case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor was leading the rookie-justice questioning contest with 15 questions, the Tribune reports.
Whatever. I miss Merrick Garland, the President Barack Obama-appointed judge who never got a shot at the Supreme Court because Republican Congress members acted like big babies and refused to do their job.
I miss you, Merrick Garland, wherever you are.
Read more at the Chicago Tribune.