WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined CNN’s New Day to discuss recent news regarding the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch and the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
“If we look down the road, the further erosion of the system here in the Senate that has kept us different from the House, the erosion of the protections for minority political rights of the filibuster would be, I think, a very grave step. We have got just two days now until the cloture vote. What that really means is that we are ready to stop debate and move to a final vote. I said in the Judiciary Committee yesterday that I intend to vote against cloture because I don't think we are yet ready to close debate. I will vote against cloture unless we are able to find some way together, Republicans and Democrats, to preserve the tradition of consultation and of the nomination by the president of a consensus candidate who can win confirmation by both parties.”
“We need a solid bipartisan investigation of all the different allegations about this. And an important point here is the White House keeps trying to find some way to justify President Trump's tweet from a month ago that he had been wiretapped. I don't think this provides any sort of cover for that. And given the very important developments this week, President Trump's meetings with the president of Egypt, with the king of Jordan, with the president of China, this isn't reality TV anymore. This is no time for Twitter diplomacy. We need to focus on our work here in the Senate and the president needs to focus on important international diplomacy issues.”
Full video and audio are available here.
Excerpts from the interview:
Senator Coons on Susan Rice: From what I’ve heard, there is nothing unusual or alarming here about the allegations here about the national security advisor. But that's why we need the Senate Intelligence Committee to work well, to work hard and to work in a bipartisan way. There were also allegations earlier this week that the UAE set up a back channel between a Putin crony and the founder of Blackwater. There are more shoes dropping day after day, and more black smoke pouring out of every window, door, and chimney of this house than we can keep track of. We need a solid bipartisan investigation of all the different allegations about this. And an important point here is the White House keeps trying to find some way to justify President Trump's tweet from a month ago that he had been wiretapped. I don't think this provides any sort of cover for that. And given the very important developments this week, President Trump's meetings with the president of Egypt, with the king of Jordan, with the president of China, this isn't reality TV anymore. This is no time for Twitter diplomacy. We need to focus on our work here in the Senate and the president needs to focus on important international diplomacy issues.
More on Susan Rice: I didn't see her PBS interview. Obviously, this is a topic subject to a number of controls. There are processes by which an intelligence official can request unmasking, but, as your previous reporter commented, that is very closely tracked. And, so, she would have had to articulate an intelligence justification for doing that. This is exactly why we need a strong and thorough investigation, to make sure that where there are allegations made, they are thoroughly investigated. I am hopeful about the progress here in the Senate with our Intelligence Committee. I remain very concerned that given Congressman Devin Nunes' side scurry over to the White House two weeks ago, that the House Intelligence Committee has gotten badly off-track and I hope they too get back to our core mission in the House and Senate of oversight.
Senator Coons on Judge Gorsuch and what this means for future Supreme Court nominees: That is right. That is a very legitimate concern. If we look down the road, the further erosion of the system here in the Senate that has kept us different from the House, the erosion of the protections for minority political rights of the filibuster would be, I think, a very grave step. We have got just two days now until the cloture vote. What that really means is that we are ready to stop debate and move to a final vote. I said in the Judiciary Committee yesterday that I intend to vote against cloture because I don't think we are yet ready to close debate. I will vote against cloture unless we are able to find some way together, Republicans and Democrats, to preserve the tradition of consultation and of the nomination by the president of a consensus candidate who can win confirmation by both parties. That didn't happen in this case. President Trump largely relied on the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation for his list of nominees.
More on Judge Gorsuch: I'm not digging in. I'm saying that I am open to conversations about how we might preserve the filibuster. There are three paths forward here and now it is clear to the Republican majority that if they choose to break the rules, to change the rules, that will be on them. There are Democrats and Republicans who I hope will be talking this week, in the next two days, to see if we could find some path forward where we preserve the filibuster for exactly the reasons you are laying out. But they can break the rules and force Judge Gorsuch on to the court. They could step back and recognize this is an historic moment. Now it's clear both sides have the votes and we need to have a conversation, or they could consult with us and reconsider Judge Gorsuch's nomination. Those are the three paths and it is my hope the Senate will play its historic role and folks here will be talking in the next two days.