A new report from The Washington Post claims that President Donald Trump nearly rescinded his nomination of now-Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch after Gorsuch contradicted the president during his nomination hearings.
According to WaPo, Trump discussed the possibility of removing Gorsuch from consideration, “venting angrily to advisers after his Supreme Court pick was critical of the president’s escalating attacks on the federal judiciary in private meetings with legislators.”
Specifically, the paper claims Trump was concerned that Gorsuch had told Sen. Richard Blumenthal — hardly a Trump ally — that he felt Trump’s attacks on a federal judge were “disheartening” and “demoralizing” to the judiciary as a whole.
True to character, the president allegedly worried that the comments indicated Gorsuch wouldn’t prove “loyal” to the Trump Administration — something many in Congress, and outside of the judiciary, might have appreciated about Gorsuch, but a quality that made the president nervous.
The White House says the president was behind Gorsuch all the way, denying WaPo’s report. Obviously, even if a swap-out was considered, it didn’t go into effect; Gorsuch was eventually confirmed to the Supreme Court and has already heard his first cases and issued decisions.