Sen. Angus King held what he called a “productive” meeting with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch Wednesday, and said he will hold a “listening session” in Portland Sunday on the nomination.

King did not offer any details on what the two discussed late Wednesday morning and said he will continue to evaluate Gorsuch, a federal appellate judge based in Denver, and follow his confirmation hearings before deciding whether to vote for his confirmation.

A key part of his evaluation, King said, will be a session Sunday afternoon at Hannaford Hall at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus, for the public to weigh in.

King said two experts, Kristine Lucius and Dmitry Bam, will offer overviews of the confirmation process and then the senator will discuss how he is approaching the Gorsuch nomination before opening the floor to members of the audience to offer their opinions or ask questions about Gorsuch.

The listening session will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Mainers “should have the opportunity to raise questions so I can understand what they want to know as the confirmation process moves forward,” King said.

Maine’s other senator, Susan Collins, met with Gorsuch for about an hour Feb. 9 and praised him as someone who would be “a fierce defender of our independent judiciary.”

At the time of that meeting, controversy was swirling around President Trump’s criticism of federal judges who put on hold his executive order banning travel to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

She, too, did not indicate how she would vote on the nomination and said she would follow Gorsuch’s nomination through the confirmation process.

Maine’s two senators could play a key role in the vote on Gorsuch’s nomination.

Related Stories