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What to Watch: Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Confirmation Hearings

In the hearings, if recent history is a guide, some of the sharpest questioning might come from Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, whose approach at the cabinet hearings produced several memorable moments.

■ The Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch are set to begin on Monday, as Republicans seek to install the court’s next conservative stalwart and Democrats decide how aggressively to push back.

■ Though much of the week will focus on Judge Gorsuch’s parrying of questions from senators, his first day is more of an introduction — a chance to cast himself as a fair-minded and dispassionate jurist and to set the tone for the days that follow. Democrats may supply a counternarrative.

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, meeting last month on Capitol Hill with Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico. CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

A second first impression.

In recent weeks, President Trump’s cabinet nominees have not always seemed entirely prepared for their congressional hearings. That’s unlikely to be the case with Judge Gorsuch.

Appraised even by skeptics as gifted and poised, Judge Gorsuch has been in deep preparations for weeks, including meetings with 72 senators, by his team’s count. The centerpiece of Monday’s proceedings will be his opening statement before the Judiciary Committee, his first meaningful public remarks since the evening of his nomination.

That initial speech, delivered from the White House beside Mr. Trump, may offer some clues to his strategy. It included soaring paeans to the judiciary — talk of the need for “impartiality and independence, collegiality and courage” — as well as choice bits of biography and humor.

He spoke of working for Justice Byron R. White, a fellow Coloradan who was also an all-American halfback at the University of Colorado and a Rhodes Scholar. Judge Gorsuch noted, to laughs, that Justice White was “the only justice to lead the N.F.L. in rushing.”

His opening remarks on Monday are expected to last about 10 minutes.

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Source: N.Y Times:

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