Last evening, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch, 49, an appellate judge from Colorado to fill the United States Supreme Court seat left vacant since the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia almost a year ago. President Trump called Gorsuch’s nomination his fulfillment of a promise to voters who told him a justice who would “interpret them (the laws) as they are written was the single most important issue for them when they voted for me as president.”
Selected from a list of 20 potential judges compiled during the campaign. Gorsuch’s opinions on religious liberty and his feelings on the separation of powers were seen as key in his selection over Judge Thomas Hardiman. With an Ivy League pedigree- Columbia and Harvard- and a doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford, Gorsuch is young enough that he could carry on the Trump legacy long after the President leaves office, as well as restoring the conservative/liberal balance of the Supreme Court.
His confirmation, however, will be hotly contested, with Democrats stung over the Republican’s blocking of Obama nominee Merrick Garland, spoiling for a fight. No word -yet- on whether Senate Republicans will use the so-called “nuclear option” of reducing the vote on Grouch to a simple majority rather than a 60-vote threshold should Democrats mount a serious effort to stymie the confirmation process. Gorsuch photo from 10th Circuit Court of Appeals with permission.
