New Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is leaving the door open to consideration of a Supreme Court nominee who could be same-sex oriented or pro-choice.
The Hill reports that Sessions “could consider a gay nominee for the nation’s highest court.”
“I’m not inclined to think that’s an automatic disqualification,” Sessions said of a gay nominee. He said he intends to consider only the nominee’s legal judgment when deciding his support for Justice David Souter’s proposed replacement.
“I may disagree with some legal opinion on those issues, but I think fundamentally it will be up to the president to submit somebody who would unite the country and would be a clear statement of a mainstream judge who commits himself to the law,” said Sessions, who will have a key role in any confirmation debate.
Meanwhile, in an interview on Fox News this afternoon, Sessions told Neil Cavuto that he would also consider a pro-choice nominee.
He has also said “he’s inclined against using a filibuster to block President Barack Obama’s nominee to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter,” according to the AP. He didn’t rule out the possibility, however.
Sessions spoke with President Obama by phone today and promised not to distort the nominees record.
Sessions said that Obama assured him in a brief telephone conversation Tuesday that he was not planning to nominate a “bomb-thrower.” The senator said he told Obama that Republicans would treat his nominee with respect and said that “we’re not going to misrepresent their record.”
Congress in Your Pocket
