Tensions rise between Trump and judges

Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch denounced the President’s comments about judges hearing the case against the travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, according to two U.S. Senators who interacted with the judge as part of his confirmation process. Mr. Trump nominated the conservative judge, fulfilling one of his key promises made after the Republican Senate refused to vote on Merrick Garland, who was nominated by President Barack Obama last year. As the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California is expected to rule on the travel ban any day now, Mr. Trump appears to be turning it into a battle for public opinion rather than judicial validation, continuing with the attack on the judges. Mr. Trump has called the judges “disgraceful” and even pre-emptively blamed them for any future terror attacks in the U.S., were they not to uphold the travel ban. The case will reach the Supreme Court, as will a host of other moves promised by the administration and the Republican-majority Congress, which will turn the U.S. judiciary into a battlefield for Mr. Trump and his opponents.

Sessions confirmed

In a prelude to the inevitable judicial battle, the Democrats and the Republicans bitterly fought before Jeff Sessions was confirmed on Wednesday as the Attorney General. His alleged racist past continues to haunt the new AG, who is a strong advocate of immigration restrictions and strong-arm tactics for crime control. The Senate voted mostly on party lines to confirm Mr. Sessions, with one Democrat crossing over. With the confirmation, Mr. Sessions takes the lead in the Justice Department’s efforts to defend the travel ban. Mr. Gorsuch termed Mr. Trump’s comments on the judges “disheartening” and “demoralising”, according to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. Republican Senator Ben Sasse said Mr. Gorsuch told him that he considered “any attack on brothers or sisters of the robe as an attack on all judges”. Mr. Trump responded on Twitter: “Senator Richard Blumenthal…now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?”

Mr. Trump also trained his guns on Republican Senator John McCain, who described the first U.S. military raid ordered by the new President in Yemen recently as a failure. “Senator McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy! He’s been losing so long he doesn’t know how to win any more, just look at the mess our country is in — bogged down in conflict all over the place. Our hero Ryan died on a winning mission... not a failure”, Mr. Trump tweeted.

“When you lose a $75 million airplane and, more importantly, an American life is lost... I don’t believe you can call it a success,” Mr. McCain had said of the raid in which an American Navy SEAL was killed. The Senator has dismissed the demand from the White House for an apology since.