Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the freshly minted ranking member on the judiciary committee surprised Neal Cavuto last night by saying he could easily see voting for a pro-choice Supreme Court nominee.
Neal, it is possible that some people would say well, he filibustered judge Alito, who was a great judge I thought, and he voted against fabulous John Roberts so we don’t owe him any favors. But I think our real obligation is not to play tit-for-tat…. I don’t believe in a litmus test. I think a judge can have a different view on abortion than I would have, and still receive my vote.
A Supreme Court judge is, of course, appointed for life. Executive branch appointees, by contrast, usually serve for a maximum of only eight years. But nonetheless, Sessions’ reputedly more moderate Judiciary Committee colleague, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), said yesterday that he’d support a filibuster of Barack Obama’s pick to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen.
Late update: Something I’d intended to mention above, but forgot. Notice on the board in the clip, Fox News doesn’t seem to know how to spell “Sotomayor.”
