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Washington • Sen. Orrin Hatch, taking on his 14th confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court, has emerged as a top cheerleader for nominee Neil Gorsuch, defending President Donald Trump's choice for the high court, criticizing his opponents and lobbing softballs to deflect Democrats' tough questions.
"One of my Democratic colleagues said that it is important to know whether you are a surrogate for President Trump or for particular interests groups. Are you?" Hatch asked during the second day of Gorsuch's confirmation hearings.
"No," Gorsuch replied.
"Of course not," Hatch added, laughing.
The Utah Republican offered the Trump nominee a chance to expand on responses to concerns raised by critics — but in a friendly exchange as compared to the more challenging questions posed by Democrats who are concerned that Gorsuch would support overturning decades-old precedents like Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Hatch asked Gorsuch about the bedrock ruling of the Supreme Court: Marbury v. Madison, which said that the judiciary could overrule a law passed by Congress.
The late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, whom Gorsuch would replace, had declined to comment on that case during his hearing.
Gorsuch called the ruling the "cornerstone of law in this country" and added: "I don't know anybody who wants to go back and reconsider that."
"I feel the same way," Hatch added.
The Utah senator continued that Gorsuch has been criticized for past rulings against working-class and poor Americans and was called "no friend of the little guy." But Hatch said a judge should be focusing on the law and not on the personal implications.
Hatch also quizzed Gorsuch on whether he would stand up to Trump if he felt the president had exceeded his authority.
"Senator, a good judge doesn't give a whit about politics or the political implications of his or her decision," Gorsuch said, adding that a judge "decides where the law takes him or her fearlessly."
And the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court judge punctuated that point by adding that he's ruled against the government in many cases and that the committee should ask the U.S. attorney for Colorado.
"I make them square their corners, Senator Hatch," Gorsuch said.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., also pressed Gorsuch about concerns by some groups that he would vote to overturn the 1973 case striking down state bans on abortion. Trump had said during the campaign that he would appoint judges who are anti-abortion.
Gorsuch, though, said he was never asked by Trump to commit on how he would rule on cases or issues and would have "walked out the door" had he been.
"That's not what judges do," Gorsuch said. "They don't do it at that end of Pennsylvania Avenue and they shouldn't do it at this end either."
Democrats on the committee repeatedly raised the specter of Merrick Garland, the Supreme Court nominee of President Barack Obama who was denied a Senate confirmation hearing by Republicans for months, until Obama's term ran out.
Under questioning by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Gorsuch had kind words for Garland, but he declined to weigh in on the Senate's no-vote defeat of his nomination.
"I think it would be imprudent for judges to start commenting on political disputes between themselves or the various branches," Gorsuch said.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, offered a few gentle questions to Gorsuch, including about the hard work of law clerks. (Lee was a clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito; Gorsuch for the late Justice Byron White and current Justice Anthony Kennedy.)
Lee introduced letters from lawyers who had clerked for Gorsuch and Scalia praising the nominee. Gorsuch said he'd always had a good relationship with his clerks, and that they were almost like family.
"I always think that a family that skis together, stays together," Gorsuch said. "We ski together."
"It's much more true of skiing than snowboarding, I think," Lee said in one of the more light-hearted moments of the hearing. "Snowboarding is a lot more painful."
"That's a value judgment I'm happy to make," Gorsuch said.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report