Last month we discussed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings. Specifically, we noted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s failure to nail Gorsuch down on key antitrust issues, including issues he handled as an experienced antitrust lawyer and decided as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which we also wrote about. At one point, Gorsuch invoked the so-called “Ginsberg Rule” and simply declined to answer Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s question regarding, not a pending or prior case, but the Department of Justice’s 2008 report on monopolization, responding, “Oh, senator, I—there’s no way you’re [going to] get me to.” Klobuchar quickly changed the subject. Despite the senators’ reluctance to fulfill their “advise and consent” obligations under the Constitution by pressing Gorsuch on contemporary antitrust issues, the Judiciary Committee voted to send Gorsuch to the full Senate on April 3. Less than a week later, on April 7, the Senate confirmed him by a 54-45 vote, cementing Gorsuch’s place in history as the 113th justice of the Supreme Court.
A key player in shepherding Gorsuch through the confirmation process was Makan Delrahim, whom President Donald J. Trump nominated on March 27 to head the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. Since January, Delrahim has served the administration as deputy assistant and deputy counsel to the president, advising the Trump administration on the selection of a replacement for former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Delrahim had reportedly taken on the role of “quarterback,” handling the administration’s Supreme Court strategy and acting as a liaison between the White House and the Senate. Delrahim attended the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings with Gorsuch.
