During an exchange with Senator Ben Sasse on Wednesday, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch spoke about the importance of the Founders and the environment in which they wrote the Constitution in Philadelphia as keys to understanding that document’s enduring strength.
Sasse asked Gorsuch to address some public comments that legal theorists who believe in the concept of originalism are “locked in time” and possibly unable to understand some constitutional processes.
“The Constitution is a law. Like any other law. It is our foundational law and drafted to last maybe unlike certain other pieces of legislation that this body might think outdated and wish to update. That's its prerogative. Constitution is designed to last. It was brilliant, brilliant document,” Gorsuch said.
“Founders were amazing. If you have ever been to Philadelphia, you have to go to Independence Hall and [the] Constitutional Center there and see how it happened. And it is inspiring. And part of the wisdom of the document is the recognition and humility that even Founders believed as they were could not anticipate what might happen a hundred years, 200 years, might hope a lot longer than that down the line. And they recognize that ultimately it is about We The People. The people are sovereign of this country. Not a king. Not a class. And if the people wish to change their constitution, there's a provision, a way to do that. That's government by the people and for the people. And that's the amendment process.”
