Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) is the most-junior Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee, meaning she plays clean-up and goes last. But she’s been watching all day – and is frustrated by what she’s heard from Judge Neil Gorsuch.

“I think basically his position is – and it’s a safe one – that I will rely on precedent,” she said in an interview this afternoon.

That’s a frustrating answer, she said, because, “The Supremes can do pretty much what they want and that’s why it’s really important to figure out where his judicial philosophy is, where his values are, unless we just think that judges are just heartless automatons that just apply precedent. We could probably have an algorithm or whatever to figure out what the precedent is.”

Throughout the day, Democrats have failed to level any damaging blows on Gorsuch, leading Republicans to believe that the federal appellate judge will emerge from the confirmation hearing unscathed. And Hirono admitted that her party is struggling to build interest in the hearings.

“I don’t necessarily expect the public’s interest to be piqued by these proceedings and such. They will care when the decisions come down and affect their lives,” she said. Democrats instead are “very focused on the Russian interference in the elections or health-care. I know people are really concerned with what’s going to happen with Medicare and Medicaid. The Supreme Court seems kind of distant. But that doesn’t mean we won’t pursue the lines of questions that we’re going to pursue.”

“I would love for the voters back home to become engaged in the vote,” she added. “Maybe they have other concerns – like they might lose their jobs if they’re a federal employee?”

That’s a reference to President Trump’s budget proposal that includes cutting tens of billions of dollars from federal agencies that would lead to job losses at places like the Environmental Protection Agency.