Top Senate Democrat says has ‘serious concerns’ about court nominee Gorsuch

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he had 'serious, serious concerns” about President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, saying the judge had dodged questions aimed at gauging his judicial independence.

Schumer told reporters after he met with Gorsuch that the nominee declined to answer questions such as whether a ban on Muslim immigration would be constitutional or comment on the Emoluments Clause in the U.S. Constitution that bars officeholders from accepting money from foreign powers.

Supreme Court nominees routinely avoid weighing in on pending legal disputes they could end up casting a vote on. Schumer said he was seeking Gorsuch's views on broader principles that he believed the nominee should be able to answer.

'The judge today avoided answers like the plague,” Schumer told reporters.

'I have serious, serious concerns about this nominee,” he added.

Schumer's questions to Gorsuch followed Trump's travel ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ban, which Trump said was needed to protect the United States from Islamist militants, was suspended by a federal judge, pending an appeal by the U.S. government.

Schumer also addressed concerns raised in a lawsuit filed by ethics lawyers accusing Trump of allowing his businesses to accept payments from foreign governments, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Schumer said he had not made a decision on whether or not he would support Gorsuch, who Trump nominated to a vacant seat on the high court last week.

Trump's fellow Republicans control the Senate 52-48 but Schumer insisted that Gorsuch would need to win 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to move toward confirmation. Democrats can seek to use a procedural maneuver to block a vote if Republicans do not have enough votes.

Gorsuch, a conservative federal appeals court judge based in Denver, is meeting senators ahead of his confirmation hearing.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Lawrence Hurley; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Andrew Hay)