Donald Trump

Vice President Mike Pence Addresses Federalist Society in Philadelphia, Calls for Neil Gorsuch to Join Supreme Court

Vice President Mike Pence came to Philadelphia to address the city's chapter of the Federalist Society and give his support to President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick.

Pence spoke Saturday afternoon at Congress Hall after a quick visit Saturday morning to the iconic Liberty Bell.

Pence pledged that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will be seated on the high court "one way or the other."

Pence's comments during a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, echoed Trump's comments from earlier in the week. Trump urged the Senate's Republican leader to scrap longstanding rules and "go nuclear" if Democrats block Gorsuch.

Pence says the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Antonin Scalia's death belongs to the American people. The vice president says he and Trump will work with the Senate to ensure Gorsuch gets an up or down vote.

"Rest assured, we will work with the Senate leadership to ensure that Judge Gorsuch gets an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor -- one way or the other," Pence said. "This seat does not belong to any party or any ideology or any interest group. This seat on the Supreme Court belongs to the American people, and the American people deserve a vote on the floor of the United States Senate."

Pence said the Senate had voted unanimously to confirm Gorsuch to his current post, and that nearly a third of the senators who voted back then remain in the Senate. The Senate's vote on Gorsuch in 2006 was by unanimous consent, or voice vote. It was not a recorded vote.

The event was not open to the public but that didn't stop protesters from marching near Independence Hall. [[412780963, C]]

Congress Hall was the meeting place for the U.S. Congress from 1790-1800. Among the historic events held there was George Washington's second inauguration.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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