Lifelong Democrat Lauds Gorsuch, Classmates Stay Friends Since ’80s

ATLANTIC CITY – William “Bill” Hughes Jr., a lifelong Democrat and one-time congressional candidate, had warm praise for Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. 
The two were classmates at Georgetown Preparatory School in the 1980s, while Hughes’ father served as the congressman for New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District and Anne M. Gorsuch, the nominee’s mother, headed the federal Environmental Protection Agency under Ronald Reagan. 
Interviewed last week, Hughes said he and Gorsuch have remained friends through the years, and he supported Trump’s pick for the court.
He described his friend as an exceptionally kind and thoughtful person, a brilliant lawyer and an independent jurist.
“I can think of no one who is better suited to go on the Supreme Court,” Hughes said.
A partner in the Atlantic County law firm of Cooper-Levinson, Hughes unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo in 2014. LoBiondo won his seat in 1994, when Hughes’ father, Democratic U.S. Rep. William “Bill” Hughes decided not to seek another term after 20 years in office.
So far, many of Trump’s appointments have proven controversial, even with Republican control of the Senate, and his pick for education secretary, Betsy Davos, squeaked an approval only after Vice President Michael Pence broke a 50-50 tie. Two Republican senators broke ranks in the otherwise party-line vote.
Some Democrats have discussed attempting to block Gorsuch’s nomination, which has led Trump to publicly suggest changing long-standing Senate rules to allow the approval process to move forward with a simple majority, the so-called nuclear option.
“He’s facing the backlash of the shameful conduct of the Senate Republicans for refusing to even grant a hearing to Merrick Garland,” Hughes said.
For months, the Senate leadership took the very unusual position that it would not consider any nominee put forward by President Barak Obama to fill the seat once held by the late Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016.
At one time, some hardliners even suggested similarly blocking any nominees of Hillary Clinton, if she won the election, fearing a tip in the balance of the highest court to the left.
But according to Hughes, Gorsuch wrote an Op-ed piece arguing that Garland deserves an up-or-down vote, calling the previous nominee one of the most competent jurists in the country.
Hughes said Gorsuch deserves a similar opportunity, “Because I am confident that Neil will preserve the integrity and protect the independence of the courts. Given the most recent events, this is something that our judiciary most desperately needs.”
Hughes declined to elaborate.
In one recent development, the administration seeks to overturn a lower court ruling on an executive order from Trump that curtails travel to the United States from several Muslim-majority countries.
On social media, Trump was sharply critical of the New York judge who granted a stay of the order.
Signed on Feb. 3, the executive order’s enactment caused confusion and delays at airports around the country and led to a fresh wave of anti-Trump protests.
Trump had argued that the stay puts American lives at risk, while opponents say the order unfairly and unconstitutionally targets Muslims.
Gorsuch, 49, of Colorado, is an appellate judge in the 10th District federal Court of Appeals.
Hughes and others describe him as a strict constructionist and originalist in interpreting the Constitution.
Hughes said he and Gorsuch were day students at the prep school, but the intense schedule of their parents in Washington meant they occasionally stayed overnight, and that they became close friends.
“I am not always going to agree with everything he decides. No lawyer will agree with everything that a judge rules,” Hughes said.
“I do know that he will come to any decision honestly; free of any partisan agenda or political goal, and that Neil is an authority on the law and on his judicial philosophy.”
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.