Sen. Angus King (ME-I) will not be supporting President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, he announced on Tuesday. King, although an independent, has caucused with the Democrats and generally votes alongside them.
In a release, King said that while he had initially been okay with the idea of Gorsuch on the bench, he eventually changed his mind.
“I am announcing today my opposition to the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court. This has not been an easy decision; I have read many of Judge Gorsuch’s opinions, met with him personally, attended a portion of his hearing before the Judiciary Committee, watched other parts of the hearing, listened to the people of Maine on both sides of this question, and read all I could find on his background, judicial philosophy, and temperament.
“I started this process with an open mind and an inclination to support a nominee with this judge’s educational and judicial experience. I know that many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle shared this initial impression. But as I got further into my research, and especially after watching his interactions with the Committee at his hearing, my opinion changed.