Widget Image
Follow PPD Social Media
follow
1,000 Followers
follow
0 Followers
follow
People's Pundit Locals Community
Thursday, February 6, 2025
SECTIONS
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 390)
Economy

service-sector-employee

A service sector employee sits at his desk. (Photo: REUTERS)

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) grew for the 87th consecutive month, but cooled to a 5-month low at 55.2% in March. Of the 18 non-manufacturing industries, 15 reported growth in March while 3 reported contraction.

“The sector continues to reflect growth; however, the rate of growth has declined since last month,” Anthony Nieves, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “The majority of respondents’ comments indicate a positive outlook on business conditions and the overall economy. There were several comments about the uncertainty of future government policies on health care, trade and immigration, and the potential impact on business.”

ISM® NON-MANUFACTURING SURVEY RESULTS AT A GLANCE
COMPARISON OF ISM® NON-MANUFACTURING AND ISM® MANUFACTURING SURVEYS*
MARCH 2017
Non-Manufacturing Manufacturing
Index Series
Index
Mar		 Series
Index
Feb		 Percent
Point
Change		 Direction Rate
of
Change		 Trend**
(Months)		 Series
Index
Mar		 Series
Index
Feb		 Percent
Point
Change
NMI®/PMI® 55.2 57.6 -2.4 Growing Slower 87 57.2 57.7 -0.5
Business Activity/Production 58.9 63.6 -4.7 Growing Slower 92 57.6 62.9 -5.3
New Orders 58.9 61.2 -2.3 Growing Slower 92 64.5 65.1 -0.6
Employment 51.6 55.2 -3.6 Growing Slower 37 58.9 54.2 +4.7
Supplier Deliveries 51.5 50.5 +1.0 Slowing Faster 15 55.9 54.8 +1.1
Inventories 48.5 52.0 -3.5 Contracting From Growing 1 49.0 51.5 -2.5
Prices 53.5 57.7 -4.2 Increasing Slower 12 70.5 68.0 +2.5
Backlog of Orders 53.0 54.0 -1.0 Growing Slower 2 57.5 57.0 +0.5
New Export Orders 62.5 57.0 +5.5 Growing Faster 2 59.0 55.0 +4.0
Imports 56.5 51.0 +5.5 Growing Faster 3 53.5 54.0 -0.5
Inventory Sentiment 65.0 64.5 +0.5 Too High Faster 238 N/A N/A N/A
Customers’ Inventories N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 47.0 47.5 -0.5
Overall Economy Growing Slower 92
Non-Manufacturing Sector Growing Slower 87

* Non-Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® data is seasonally adjusted for the Business Activity, New Orders, Prices and Employment Indexes. Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business® data is seasonally adjusted for New Orders, Production, Employment and Supplier Deliveries.

** Number of months moving in current direction.

The Institute for Supply Management's Non-Manufacturing Index

Economy

People walk past a ''Now Hiring'' sign in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., May 10, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

People walk past a ”Now Hiring” sign in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., May 10, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

The ADP National Employment Report found the private sector added 265,000 jobs in March, far more than the 185,000 expected by economists for the month. The ADP report offers renewed optimism for wages, as job creation not only exceeded expectations but was also broad-based.

“The U.S. labor market finished the first quarter on a strong note,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Consumer dependent industries including healthcare, leisure and hospitality, and trade had strong growth during the month.”

This is the second straight month and the first two under President Donald J. Trump where the ADP National Employment Report crushed the median forecast expected by economists.

“Job growth is off to a strong start in 2017,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics said. “The gains are broad based but most notable in the goods producing side of the economy including construction, manufacturing and mining.”

Worth noting, the vast majority of jobs created in the private sector under the previous U.S. administration came from the lower-paying end of the service sector, while the higher-wage paying sectors struggled and even lost ground. In March, the ADP National Employment report showed the manufacturing sector added 30,000 jobs, while construction added 49,000.

Last month, the two industry sectors added 32,000 and 66,000 new jobs, respectively. Even mining added 4,000 new jobs in March, after the trend line for the previous years since the Great Recession showed consistent losses.

The first Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey since President Donald Trump took office released last week found a “dramatic shift in sentiment” to the highest level ever measured. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) survey found more than 93% of manufacturers feeling positive about their economic outlook.

The service sector added 181,000, roughly the average we’ve been seeing. Leisure and hospitality, a notoriously low-wage sub-sector, represented 55,000 jobs and another, franchise, was only 13,900.

That’s an indication that even the service sector is adding more wage-growth friendly positions while the remaining sectors of the economy fill out. Higher-paying sub-sectors of the services industry, including professional and business services represented 57,000 new jobs, while trade/transportation/utilities represented a healthy 34,000.

For the second straight month, private sector job creation also appeared to continue to return to the historical norm relating to the majority coming from small- and medium-size businesses. Small businesses added 118,000 jobs in March, including 60,000 from businesses with 1-19 employees and 58,000 from businesses with 20-49 employees. Medium-size businesses, or those with 50-499 employees, added 100,000 jobs.

The ADP National Employment Report found the

Polls

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint news conference in Moscow's Kremlin on Nov.16, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a joint news conference in Moscow’s Kremlin on Nov.16, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

Vladimir Putin’s approval rating remains solid and undamaged amid universal condemnation of his reaction to anti-corruption protests and a slowing economy. The Gallup World Poll finds more than 8 in 10 (81%) Russians said they approved of the job President Putin did in 2016.

The latest result is almost unchanged from the extraordinarily high ratings (83%) they have given him during Russia’s annexation of Crimea three years ago. In 2015, the following year, President Putin’s approval rating climbed to 85%.

In 2014, Russians briefly expressed economic optimism, which in 2016 fell back near recent lows measured in 2009 during the global economic crisis. With oil prices plunging on top of recession, just 14% of Russians in 2016 said their national economy was getting better and 18% said the same for their local economies.

Yet, nearly 7 in 10 Russians (68%) who believe their economy was getting worse–a number that has more than doubled since 2014–still approve of President Putin.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Russia late last month in the biggest sign of defiance against the Putin government since protests erupted in 2011 and 2012. Protestors demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and anti-corruption reforms.

Instead, authorities declared the planned demonstrations in many of the cities illegal and arrested roughly 700 protesters. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was jailed for 15 days for resisting police orders, likely making him ineligible to run against President Putin in the next election.

The U.S. State Department condemned the crackdown as “an affront to core democratic values.”

Nevertheless, Putin’s approval ratings among Russians who see corruption as widespread in government have been just as high as those who do not see it as widespread. That’s been the case since 2015.

SURVEY METHODS

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 2,000 adults in Russia, aged 15 and older, conducted from April to June 2016. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±2.7 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

The Chechen Republic, Republic of Ingushetia, Republic of Dagestan and the Republic of Crimea were excluded due to political instability. The Republic of Adygeya, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessie and North Ossetia were excluded due to high crime levels. Remote small settlements in far-Eastern Siberia were also excluded. The excluded areas represent about 6% of the population.

For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup’s Country Data Set details.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.

Vladimir Putin's approval rating remains solid and

Editorials

Susan Rice

In an appearance on “Meet The Press,” on NBC News, Susan Rice told David Gregory that she admits to giving inaccurate information on the Benghazi attack, but has no regrets.

Susan Rice has now flip-flopped on whether she “unmasked” the identities of Trump transition members who were spied on by the Obama Administration.

“I know nothing about this,” Rice said just a few weeks ago after the head of the House Intelligence Committee confirmed “incidental collection” of intelligence did occur. “I was surprised to see reports by Chairman Nunes on this account today. I’m not sure to what Chairman Nunes was referring.”

[brid video=”129837″ player=”2077″ title=”Susan Rice The world wonders and worries if the White House can be trusted”]

Now, after numerous outlets to include People’s Pundit Daily confirmed that to be a false statement, the former national security advisor under Barack Obama told a friendly news outlet another story, altogether. In an interview with MSNBC, Rice went from “knowing nothing” to unmasking just being part of the job.

“We only do it to protect the American people and to do our jobs.” Rice said, adding Obama officials never used intelligence to spy on Trump officials for political purposes. “I leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never would.”

[brid video=”129838″ player=”2077″ title=”Susan Rice ‘ Leaked Nothing To Nobody’ About Intelligence (Exclusive) Andrea Mitchell MSNBC”]

First, a denial in an exclusive interview with Andrea Mitchell, a known Democratic Party hack and Clinton sycophant, is simply not good enough. On election night in Philadelphia, Mitchell looked like someone killed her dog after it became clear Hillary Clinton was going to lose in an electoral vote landslide.

Second, let us be as clear as possible. Susan Rice is a proven liar who doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, ever, on anything. Rice is infamous for her role in what we now know was a coverup before the 2012 election. The then-U.N. ambassador appeared on no less than five Sunday shows and knowingly lied about the Benghazi terror attack, without shame or regret.

On September 14, 2012, an email from Ben Rhodes, who was the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and assistant to Mr. Obama, contained a subject line: “RE: PREP Call with Susan: Saturday at 4:00 pm ET.”

It was sent to a dozen members of the Obama administration’s inner circle, including Press Secretary Jay Carney. Deputy Press Secretary Joshua Earnest, then-White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, then-White House Deputy Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, then-National Security Council Director of Communications Erin Pelton, Special Assistant to the Press Secretary Howli Ledbetter and then-White House Senior Advisor and political strategist David Plouffe.

In the email, Rhodes says the game plan was to stress the anti-Islam Internet video and to obfuscate the differences between the Benghazi attack and what were widespread protests across the Middle East, which were directly related to foreign policy failures following the botched Arab Spring.

The email specifically lists the following two goals, as well as several others:

“To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy.”

“To reinforce the President and Administration’s strength and steadiness in dealing with difficult challenges.”

The rest is now a disgraceful history. The former head of AFRICOM, General Carter Ham, told the House Armed Services Committee later that January that the White House situation room was alerted immediately after the attack. Emails confirmed the general’s account and the House Select Committee on Benghazi would later discover another “smoking gun.”

For her loyalty and willingness to engage in a coverup before a heated presidential election, she was promoted to national security advisor. This is exactly why Americans hate Washington D.C., have no confidence in their government and believe wholeheartedly that the political class lives by a different set of rules than they do.

Americans, the intelligence community and the new administration deserve to know the truth about why Rice unmasked the identities of U.S. citizens in surveillance potentially collected to her political opposition. A proven liar like Susan Rice doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt in what could very well be the worst abuse of political power we’ve witnessed in our lifetime.

Susan Rice, a proven liar who doesn't

World

Syria Chemical Weapons Graphic

U.S. President Donald J. Trump condemned the chemical attack in Syria as “reprehensible” and one that “cannot be ignored by the civilized world.” He went to trash his predecessor for the state of affairs in Syria, in which former President Barack Obama drew his empty and infamous “red line” regarding such attacks, which President Bashar al-Assad crossed without consequence.

“Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world,” President Trump said in a statement. “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.”

The chemical attack in Syria was one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s 6-year civil war, claiming the lives of at least 100 people and wounding at least 400 others. While it has been widely reported the new U.S. administration has had greater success against the Islamic State in Iraq, it is unclear how far President Trump is willing to go to respond to President Assad in Syria, particularly considering .

“President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing,” President Trump said. “The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack.”

President Assad is acting as a countering force to the Islamic State, otherwise known in Syria as Daesh, which has a stronghold capital in Raqqa, Syria. Still, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said there were 11 children among the dead.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also released a statement in response.

“The United States strongly condemns the chemical weapons attack in Idlib province, the third allegation of the use of such weapons in the past month alone,” Mr. Tillerson said. “Anyone who uses chemical weapons to attack his own people shows a fundamental disregard for human decency and must be held accountable.”

U.S. President Donald J. Trump condemned the

Politics

President Donald J. Trump addressed the North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) National Legislative Conference on Tuesday April 4, 2017.

President Donald J. Trump addressed the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) National Legislative Conference on Tuesday April 4, 2017.

President Donald J. Trump told the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) on Tuesday that labor “will always find an open door at the White House.”

“We’re a nation of builders and it was about time we had a builder in the White House,” President Trump told labor leaders and workers. “I promise you America’s labor leaders will always find an open door at the White House with Donald Trump.”

At the organization’s National Legislative Conference, the President spoke about trade, his goal of creating more jobs and withdrawing the U.S. from the deeply unpopular Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He also touted his idea to require U.S.-made steel be used in the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a decision which made the NABTU “thrilled.”

“You’re the backbone in America. With the talent in this room we can build any city at any time and better than anyone,” he added. “Together, we are going to rebuild our nation. You are the keepers of the great trades and secrets that built our nation.”

Working class and union support for President Trump was pivotal in his electoral vote landslide against Hillary Clinton in November, enabling him to carry Midwest states in the Rust Belt no Republican has carried since President Ronald Reagan in 1984, including Wisconsin. The New York builder broke President Reagan’s two-party vote record set that same year among white working class voters and cracked the Blue Wall in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

“Washington and Wall Street have done very well for themselves and now it’s your turn and you are also going to be sharing the wealth,” he said. “This election was all about returning power back to the people. I’ve spent my life working side by side with you as a builder. Now, you have a builder as a president.”

The President, who continues to enjoy the highest approval in the heart of labor country, pledged he will no longer allow political leaders to export their work and opportunity.

“We didn’t just offshore our jobs, we off-shored a big part of the American dream,” President Trump said. “I’m not and don’t want to be the president of the world. I’m the President of the United States and from now on it’s America first.”

The speech comes after the Trump Justice Department warned U.S. companies that it would investigate and prosecute employers that overlook qualified Americans for jobs. It was an announcement made on the same day that employers started to apply for H-1B visas.

“U.S. workers should not be placed in a disfavored status, and the department is wholeheartedly committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting these claims,” Tom Wheeler, acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release.

The president is expected to sign the order aiming to “end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program.”

The program is mostly by technology companies to bring in programmers and other specialized workers from other countries. President Trump ended his address to the conference calling for bipartisan unity and participation in a “great rebuilding of America.”

“I’m calling on all Americans, Democrat, Republican and Independent, to take part in the great re-building of America,” he said, urging labor leaders to help drive his infrastructure proposal through Congress when they “meet with members of the House and members of the Senate.”

When you see them you can tell them that America’s building trades unions and America’s President are very much united,” President Trump added.

President Donald J. Trump told the North

Policy

Pedestrians walk through the Canary Wharf financial district of London January 16, 2009.

Pedestrians walk through the Canary Wharf financial district of London January 16, 2009.

The good news is that the House put together an Obamacare-repeal bill that reduced the fiscal burden of government. The bad news is that the legislation didn’t address the regulations and interventions that produce rising costs and sectoral inefficiency because of the third-party payer problem.

Whether the bill was a net plus is now moot since it didn’t have enough votes for approval. And the withdrawal of the legislation has generated a bunch of stories on whether Trump and congressional Republicans are incapable of governing.

In particular since it appears that GOPers also seem incapable of coming to agreement on how to reduce the tax burden. I commented on the dysfunctional state of affairs in this interview with Neil Cavuto.

[brid video=”129418″ player=”2077″ title=”Dan Mitchell Discussing GOP Tax Plan and Corporate Rate Reduction”]

The bottom line is that there are big divisions. There is (thankfully) a lot of opposition to the border-adjustable tax, and there’s also no agreement on whether the tax plan should be a pure tax cut or whether it should be a revenue-neutral package that finances lower tax rates by eliminating or curtailing undesirable preferences.

Jason Furman, who was the Chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, suggest that Republican divisions won’t matter if tax reform becomes a bipartisan issue. But I’m not overly impressed by the five conditions he outlines in a column in today’s Wall Street Journal.

  • “Commit to revenue neutrality and distributional neutrality, as in the 1986 tax reform” – This is a poison pill, mostly because “distributional neutrality” means lawmakers would be constrained by class warfare concerns instead of focusing on how to produce growth. Indeed, this is why the plan put forth by the previous Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee was such a dud.
  • “Focus on business taxes only” – As I mentioned in the interview, I actually think this suggestion makes sense.
  • “For overseas business income, adopt something like a ‘minimum tax.’” – This is another poison pill. It’s designed to preserve worldwide taxation. Moreover, I explained last year that such schemes discriminate against nations with better tax policy.
  • “For domestic business income, adopt something along the lines of the House Republican proposal” – There’s not a lot of detail in the WSJ column, so it’s unclear if Furman is endorsing the notorious BAT from the House plan. He does explicitly endorse expensing over depreciation and he wants to put debt and equity on a level playing field. If that’s all he means, I agree with him.
  • “Incorporate into the bill a real plan for public infrastructure spending” – Since the federal government should not have any role in transportation, I’m obviously not enthusiastic about this proposal. Though if a bit of pork was the price to get an otherwise good bill through the process, I wouldn’t object too strenuously.

It’s unclear if Furman considers the five conditions a package deal. If so, there is zero chance of bipartisanship because Republicans presumably will not agree if they are bound by distributional neutrality.

But if a “business taxes only” agenda can get some Democrats on board, then there may be hope. Especially since that may make a virtue out of necessity, as I suggested in the interview.

And for those who question whether lowering the corporate tax rate is important, here’s an argument-ending chart from a recent Tax Foundation publication. Keep in mind that the U.S. corporate rate (including state levies) is 39 percent.

It’s particularly noteworthy that average corporate tax rates in Europe and Asia are about 20 percent, far lower than the tax burden imposed on companies in the United States.

No wonder many American companies have redomiciled to other nations.

The ultimate answer is to junk the entire tax code and adopt a simple and fair flat tax. The best-possible answer we may get out of dysfunctional Washington is probably a lower corporate rate.

With internal Republican opposition to the border-adjustable

World

A wounded victim outside the Sennaya Ploshchad station. (Photo: Reuters)

A wounded victim outside the Sennaya Ploshchad station. (Photo: Reuters)

Russia’s Investigative Committee has identified Kyrgyzstan native Akbardzhon Dzhalilov as the “suicide bomber” responsible for the St. Petersburg subway attack.

Dzhalilov, 22, had Russian citizenship but little is known about the man who set off a bomb on a train that killed 14 people and wounded dozens. It was unclear if the figure of 14 included the bomber, though the term “suicide” implies it does.

It is also unclear whether he acted alone or was part of a greater plot, but multiple sources confirmed to People’s Pundit Daily they believe he had ties to Islamic terror groups. Most Central Asian migrants in Russia have work permits or work illegally. That said, Russia has willingly given thousands citizenship over the past decades and refused calls to impose visa restrictions.

There were two bombs filled with shrapnel planted at the subway, but only one exploded. The unexploded device was rigged with up to 2.2 pounds of explosives, Russian media reported. The one bomb exploded as the train was traveling between Sennaya Ploshchad and Technology Institute stations.

Russian officials have identified Kyrgyzstan native Akbardzhon

Politics

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., discusses the American Health Care Act before a TV interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo: AP)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., discusses the American Health Care Act before a TV interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo: AP)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called on former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice to testify on new reports revealing she was behind dozens of requests to “unmask” the names of President Donald Trump’s transition officials caught up in surveillance. First reported by The Hill, Sen. Paul called the unmasking an “enormous deal” and said that it should be illegal, something Democrats have decided they will deny.

“I don’t think we should discount how big a deal it was that Susan Rice was looking at these, and she needs to be asked, did President Obama ask her to do this? Was this a directive from President Obama?” Sen. Paul told reporters. “I think she ought to testify under oath on this. I think she should be asked under oath, did she reveal it to The Washington Post.”

Rice is notorious for her role in the Benghazi coverup, which consisted of knowingly lying about the Benghazi terror attack on no less than five Sunday shows during her tenure as UN ambassador. For her loyalty during a heated presidential election, she was promoted to national security advisor.

“I think they were illegally basically using an espionage tool to eavesdrop or wiretap — if you want to use the word generally — on the Trump campaign,” Sen. Paul added.

Last month, when asked about the revelations by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Rice again lied on national television by claiming she had no idea what the chairman was talking about. At the same time, within the same breath, Rice laid the groundwork for her defense in the interview on PBS Newshour.

“I know nothing about this. I was surprised to see reports by Chairman Nunes on this account today,” Rice said. “I’m not sure to what Chairman Nunes was referring. but whatever he was referring to was a legal, lawful incidental collection of intelligence.”

Rep. Nunes confirmed the “incidental collection” of intelligence unrelated to Russia. The content indicates in its closing days the Obama Administration was using the cover of legitimate surveillance on foreign targets to spy on members of the Trump transition team, and perhaps the then-president-elect himself. In his press conference, the chairman said he was “alarmed” and didn’t understand “why people would need to know that about President-elect Trump and his transition team.”

The announcement set off a political firestorm, one which Democrats responded to with calls for Chairman Nunes to step down or recuse himself. Sen. Paul clearly disagrees, stating the motives are more about protecting the surveillance state than finding the truth and protecting against abuses to civil liberties.

“I have been very impressed with Devin Nunes,” Sen. Paul said. “All of the intelligence hawks don’t like him because he appears to have found something and he’s willing to talk about it with the president.”

Of the spying on Americans without a warrant, he said “it is inappropriate and it should be illegal.”

“I don’t think you should be allowed to listen to Americans’ conversations without a warrant,” he continued. “They are doing it without a warrant. They are targeting a foreigner, and because they are targeting a foreigner they are gathering all of this information on Americans.”

The Kentucky libertarian-leaning senator is now weighing legislation to protect against future surveillance abuses by the Executive Branch.

[caption id="attachment_52077" align="aligncenter" width="740"] Sen. Rand Paul,

Politics

President Donald J. Trump shakes hands with Judge Neil Gorsuch, whom he nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court on January 31, 2017.

President Donald J. Trump shakes hands with Judge Neil Gorsuch, whom he nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court on January 31, 2017.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11 to 9 Monday along party lines to advance the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court. President Donald J. Trump nominated him to fill the vacancy on the high court following the death of conservative Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

“The nominee’s opponents have tried to find a fault with him that will stick. And it just hasn’t worked,” Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in his opening statement. “Judge Gorsuch is eminently qualified. He’s a mainstream judge who’s earned the universal respect of his colleagues on the bench and in the bar. He applies the law as we in Congress write it.”

Sen. Grassley allowed all 20 committee members to speak before the final vote. Ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., used the time to lament over Judge Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s third nominee to the High Court, which she claimed should have been considered for the seat. But leaders of the Republican-controlled Senate held off until after the 2016 presidential election, during which large percentages of Americans reported the decision weighed heavy on their vote.

Judge Gorsuch, 49, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Colorado, was appointed in 2006 by President George W. Bush. He was previously a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department and is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in 25 years. The American Bar Association, which is a known leftwing association, has given him the highest rating available and his opinions have been in “the majority 99% of the time.”

In July 2006, Judge Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate unanimously by a voice vote, with the record including the vote of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., then-Sens. Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Dianne Feinstein.

But now Senate Democrats have had a change of heart and mustered enough votes to filibuster the cloture vote, which is a procedural motion to end debate and move to the actual confirmation vote. The decision to do so makes them the first party in U.S. history to ever stage a partisan filibuster, though historically Democrats have played a more obstructionist role on court nomination than Republicans.

However, the development only increases the likelihood that the Republican Senate majority will deploy the so-called “nuclear option” to ensure Judge Gorsuch is confirmed.

Read Also — Updated Whip Count: Judge Neil Gorsuch Confirmation

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11 to

People's Pundit Daily
You have %%pigeonMeterAvailable%% free %%pigeonCopyPage%% remaining this month. Get unlimited access and support reader-funded, independent data journalism.

Start a 14-day free trial now. Pay later!

Start Trial

Subscribe