BREAKING: President Trump Nominates Neil M. Gorsuch for the Supreme Court

BREAKING:  President Trump Nominates Neil M. Gorsuch for the Supreme Court

Washington, DC –  President Donald Trump announced as his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, on Tuesday night, January 31, 2017.

According to The New York Times,  President Trump made the announcement to the nation on live TV from the East Room of the White House.  The Supreme Court vacancy was the result of the unexpected 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia, renowned for his conservatism.  The President recognized the late Justice’s wife, Maureen, in the audience, and said that Justice Scalia’s “image and genius was in my mind throughout the decision-making process.”

The nomination was the President’s first bid to reshape the nation’s highest court.  President Trump said  “Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support.”  He also said that “It is an extraordinary resume — as good as it gets.”

The President acknowledged that the nomination would face a bitter bipartisan battle for confirmation but expressed hope that “both Democrats and Republicans can come together for once, for the good of the country,”  Senate Democrats, still angry over the Republican refusal to confirm former President Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick B. Garland, have promised a fight.

If Judge Gorsuch is confirmed at the next Supreme Court Justice, it would restore the 5-4 split between liberals and conservatives on the court.  Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, age 80, would be the swing vote, and he has voted with both sides in the past.  Judge Gorsuch, age 49, is the youngest nominee in 25 years, and could be a pivotal force in shaping major decisions for decades to come.  In his choice, President Trump chose a conservative in the tradition of Justice Scalia but not someone who is known to be divisive.

Speculation was rampant that President Trump’s decision had been narrowed to Judge Gorsuch and Judge Thomas M. Hardiman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  But only Judge Gorsuch appeared shortly before the nomination ceremony began.  Many wondered if the President would choose someone with less of an elite background for the Court.

Judge Gorsuch is a native of Colorado and was in the same class at Harvard law school as former President Obama.  He is known for his well-written, detailed opinions that are usually but not always conservative.  He has a Ph.D from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall scholar, and was a law clerk at the Supreme Court for Justice Kennedy and Justice Byron R. White.  Judge Gorsuch was nominated to the federal bench by former President George W. Bush in 2006.

In the past, Judge Gorsuch has voted in favor of employers, including Hobby Lobby, who used religious objections for refusing to provide some type of birth control coverage to female employees.  He has also expressed criticism to liberals for using courts to obtain their policy goals instead of the legislature.  His mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, became the first female to direct the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Reagan.  Judge Gorsuch attended Georgetown Preparatory School before attending Columbia University.

Several Democrats declined President Trump’s invitation to attend the ceremony announcing his nominee. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, has stated that he is ready to block any candidate that he perceives to be outside of the mainstream.  Judge Gorsuch will need the support of eight Democrats to join the 52 Republicans in the Senate to survive a filibuster and move forward with a confirmation vote.

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