President Donald Trump has nominated federal appeals judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

The 49-year-old Gorsuch has served on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver since 2006, after being appointed by President George W. Bush. He once worked at the Supreme Court as a law clerk.

If approved by the Senate, Gorsuch would take the seat left vacant since Justice Antonin Scalia died last year. Republicans refused to consider President Barack Obama's nominee for the seat, saying the choice should go Obama's successor.

He would be the youngest justice since Clarence Thomas joined the court in 1991 at age 43.

Trump made the announcement Tuesday in a prime-time address from the White House. </s> President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer's flair, to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, a selection expected to spark a fierce fight with Democrats over a jurist who could shape America's legal landscape for decades to come.At 49, Gorsuch is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in a quarter century. He's distinguished himself on the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals with his clear, colloquial writing, advocacy for court review of government regulations, defense of religious freedom and skepticism toward law enforcement."Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support," Trump said, announcing the nomination in his first televised address from the White House.Gorsuch's nomination was cheered by conservatives wary of Trump's own fluid ideology. If confirmed by the Senate, he will fill the seat left vacant by the death last year of Antonin Scalia, long the right's most powerful voice on the high court.Some Democrats, still smarting over Trump's unexpected victory in the presidential election, have vowed to mount a vigorous challenge to nearly any nominee to what they view as the court's "stolen seat." President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacancy after Scalia's death, but Senate Republicans refused to consider the pick, saying the seat should be filled only after the November election.Trump's choice of Gorsuch marks perhaps the most significant decision of his young presidency, one with ramifications that could last long after he leaves office. After an uneven start to his presidency, including the chaotic rollout of a controversial refugee ban, Trump's selection of Gorsuch appeared to proceed with little drama.For some Republicans, the prospect of filling one or more Supreme Court seats over the next four years has helped ease their concerns about Trump's experience and temperament. Three justices are in their late 70s and early 80s, and a retirement would offer Trump the opportunity to cement conservative dominance of the court for many years.If confirmed, Gorsuch will restore the court to the conservative tilt it held with Scalia on the bench. But he is not expected to call into question high-profile rulings on abortion, gay marriage and other issues in which the court has been divided 5-4 in recent years.Gorsuch was among the 21 possible choices for the court Trump released during the campaign. Other finalists also came from that list, including Thomas Hardiman, who serves alongside Trump's sister on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and William Pryor, a federal appeals court judge and Alabama's attorney general from 1997 to 2004.Pryor's standing slipped in the lead up to the announcement, in part because his reputation as a staunch conservative seems likely to make him a rich target for Democratic senators in a confirmation hearing.Yet Gorsuch, too, is expected to face intense scrutiny from Democrats. Some liberals have demanded that Democrats block any Trump choice, underscoring the deep partisan discord surging through Washington."Now is not the time for business as usual," MoveOn.org's Ilya Sheyman said in a statement.Gorsuch is a Colorado native who earned his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in three years, then a law degree from Harvard. He clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White, a fellow Coloradan, and Anthony Kennedy before earning a philosophy degree at Oxford University and working for a prominent Washington, D.C., law firm.He served for two years in President George W. Bush's Department of Justice before the president nominated him to the appeals court.Gorsuch has contended that courts give too much deference to government agencies' interpretations of statutes, a deference that stems from a Supreme Court ruling in a 1984 case. He sided with two groups that successfully challenged the Obama administration's requirements that employers provide health insurance that includes contraception.If Democrats decide to filibuster Gorsuch's nomination, his fate could rest in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump has encouraged McConnell to change the rules of the Senate and make it impossible to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee - a change known in the Senate as the "nuclear option."A conservative group already has announced plans to begin airing $2 million worth of ads in support of the nominee in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and North Dakota, four states that Trump won and in which Democrats will be defending their Senate seats in 2018.Chicago Kent College of Law Dean Harold Krent considers both judges conservative but mainstream jurists."The two leading candidates are both well-qualified, they're well-respected. They're quite conservative too, that's what you'd expect after this election," Krent said.Trump said last fall on television that, "The justices I'm going to appoint will be pro-life. They will have a conservative bent. They will be protecting the Second Amendment."Back then the long list of possible nominees included Judge Diane Sykes of Chicago's Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals."Judge Sykes is also conservative. She's also well-respected. She'll probably be considered f there's a further vacancy," Krent said.Krent said a conservative replacement for the vacancy will not change the court as we have known it for the past few years. It's the next Trump nominee, if he should have one, which could be a "game changer.""Then, a conservative appointment replacing, say, a Justice Ginsberg could destabilize the Court and send it rightward," he said.Gorsuch appeared on the list of of 21 possible choices that he made public during the campaign, and each has met with him to discuss the vacancy that arose when Antonin Scalia died nearly a year ago.Trump's pick will restore a general conservative tilt to the court but is not expected to call into question high-profile rulings on abortion, gay marriage and other issues in which the court has been divided 5-4 in recent years.That GOP effort outraged the White House and congressional Democrats, who have suggested they might seek to block any choice Trump makes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will oppose any nominee outside the mainstream.White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that while Democrats may not like the "political or philosophical background" of the president's pick, "the criteria in terms of academia background, time on the bench, the expertise and criteria meets the intent of both Republicans and Democrats."If Democrats decide to filibuster, the fate of Trump's nominee could rest in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump has encouraged McConnell to change the rules of the Senate and make it impossible to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee - a change known in the Senate as the "nuclear option."A conservative group already has announced plans to begin airing $2 million worth of ads in support of the nominee in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and North Dakota, four states that Trump won and in which Democrats will be defending their Senate seats in 2018. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has nominated Neil Gorsuch, a fast-rising conservative judge with a writer’s flair, to the Supreme Court, setting up a fierce fight with Democrats over a jurist who could shape America’s legal landscape for decades to come.

At 49, Gorsuch is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in a quarter-century. He’s known on the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for clear, colloquial writing, advocacy for court review of government regulations, defense of religious freedom and skepticism toward law enforcement.

“Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support,” Trump declared, announcing the nomination in his first televised prime-time address from the White House.

 Gorsuch’s nomination Tuesday was cheered by conservatives wary of Trump’s own fluid ideology. If confirmed by the Senate, he would fill the seat left vacant by the death last year of Antonin Scalia, long the right’s most powerful voice on the high court.

With Scalia’s wife, Maureen, sitting in the audience, Trump took care to praise the late justice. Gorsuch followed, calling Scalia a “lion of the law.”

Gorsuch thanked Trump for entrusting him with “a most solemn assignment.” Outlining his legal philosophy, he said: “It is the rule of judges to apply, not alter, the work of the people’s representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge.”

Some Democrats, still smarting over Trump’s unexpected victory in the presidential election, have vowed to mount a vigorous challenge to nearly any nominee to what they view as the court’s “stolen seat.” President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacancy after Scalia’s death, but Senate Republicans refused to consider the pick, saying the seat should be filled only after the November election.

Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said he has “serious doubts” that Gorsuch is within what Democrats consider the legal mainstream, saying he “hewed to an ideological approach to jurisprudence that makes me skeptical that he can be a strong, independent justice on the court.”

Trump’s choice of Gorsuch marks perhaps the most significant decision of his young presidency, one with ramifications that could last long after he leaves office. After a reality television buildup to Tuesday’s announcement — including a senior Trump adviser saying more than one court candidate was heading to Washington ahead of the event— the actual reveal was traditional and drama-free.

For some Republicans, the prospect of filling one or more Supreme Court seats over the next four years has helped ease their concerns about Trump’s experience and temperament. Three justices are in their late 70s and early 80s, and a retirement would offer Trump the opportunity to cement conservative dominance of the court for many years.

Gorsuch would restore the court to the conservative tilt it held with Scalia on the bench. But he is not expected to call into question high-profile rulings on abortion, gay marriage and other issues in which the court has been divided 5-4 in recent years.

If confirmed, Gorsuch would join the court that is often the final arbiter for presidential policy. Justices upheld Obama’s signature health care law in 2012 and could eventually hear arguments over Trump’s controversial refugee and immigration executive order.

Gorsuch’s writings outside the court offer insight into his conservative leanings. He lashed out at liberals in a 2005 opinion piece for National Review, written before he became a federal judge.

“American liberals have become addicted to the courtroom, relying on judges and lawyers rather than elected leaders and the ballot box, as the primary means for effecting their social agenda on everything from gay marriage to assisted suicide to the use of vouchers for private-school education,” he wrote.

Gorsuch has won praise from conservatives for his defense of religious freedom, including in a case involving the Hobby Lobby craft stores. He voted in favor of privately held for-profit secular corporations, and individuals who owned or controlled them, who raised religious objections to paying for contraception for women covered under their health plans.

The judge also has written opinions that question 30 years of Supreme Court rulings that allow federal agencies to interpret laws and regulations. Gorsuch has said that federal bureaucrats have been allowed to accumulate too much power at the expense of Congress and the courts.

Like Scalia, Gorsuch identifies himself as a judge who tries to decide cases by interpreting the Constitution and laws as they were understood when written. He also has raised questions about criminal laws in a way that resembles Scalia’s approach to criminal law.

University of Michigan law professor Richard Primus said Gorsuch “may be the closest thing the new generation of conservative judges has to Antonin Scalia.”

Gorsuch, like the other eight justices on the court, has an Ivy League law degree. The Colorado native earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in three years, then a law degree from Harvard. He clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White, a fellow Coloradan, and Anthony Kennedy before earning a philosophy degree at Oxford University and working for a prominent Washington law firm.

He served for two years in George W. Bush’s Department of Justice before Bush nominated him to the appeals court. His mother was Anne Gorsuch Burford, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Reagan administration.

Gorsuch was among the 21 possible choices for the court Trump released during the campaign. Other finalists also came from that list, including Thomas Hardiman, who serves alongside Trump’s sister on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and William Pryor, a federal appeals court judge and Alabama’s attorney general from 1997 to 2004.

If Democrats decide to filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination, his fate could rest in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump has encouraged McConnell to change the rules of the Senate and make it impossible to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee — a change known in the Senate as the “nuclear option.”

A conservative group already has announced plans to begin airing $2 million worth of ads in support of the nominee in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and North Dakota, four states that Trump won and in which Democrats will be defending their Senate seats in 2018. </s> “Judge Gorsuch has a superb intellect, an unparalleled legal education, and a commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its text. He will make an incredible Justice as soon as the Senate confirms him,” said the US president.

IMAGE: Donald Trump announces his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to be an associate justice of the US Supreme Court at the White House in Washington, DC. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

United States President Donald Trump has nominated conservative judge Neil Gorsuch as his Supreme Court nominee, a selection which has sparked strong opposition from the Democrats.

Born and raised in Colorado, 49-year-old Gorsuch of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is the youngest Supreme Court nominee in a quarter century.

“I am proud to announce the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for Justice of the Supreme Court,” Trump said in a major announcement from the east Room of the White House on Tuesday.

Gorsuch attended ColumbiaUniversity and HarvardLawSchool. After graduating with honours, he received his doctorate from OxfordUniversity as a Marshall Scholar.

“This has been the most transparent and most important Supreme Court selection process in the history of our country and I wanted the American people to have a voice in this nomination,” Trump said.

“Judge Gorsuch has a superb intellect, an unparalleled legal education, and a commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its text. He will make an incredible Justice as soon as the Senate confirms him,” Trump said, making his first nomination to the Supreme Court.

In 2006, the then President George W Bush nominated him for the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and he was confirmed by voice vote without objection.

“I am honoured and humbled to receive this nomination. I look forward to meeting with Senators over the coming weeks as we begin this process,” Gorsuch said.

In a live prime time address to the nation from the East Room in selecting Gorsuch, Trump said he was fulfilling his promise to select someone who loves the Constitution and respects laws and will interpret them as written.

“This may be the most transparent judicial selection process in history. Months ago as a candidate, I publicly presented a list of brilliant and accomplished people to the American electorate and pledged to make my choice from among that list. Millions of voters said this was the single most important issue to them when they voted for me for president,” he said.

“I am a man of my word. I will do as I say, something that the American people have been asking for from Washington for a very, very long time. The qualifications of Judge Gorsuch are beyond dispute. He is the man of our country and a man who our country really needs and needs badly to ensure the rule of law and the rule of justice,” Trump said.

Noting that he would like to thank Senate leadership, Trump said he hoped both Democrats and Republicans can come together for once for the good of the country.

Gorsuch enjoys fishing, hiking, and skiing. He and his wife care for animals, including a horse, in the small barn at their home. As a young man, he delivered papers and worked as a front desk clerk at a Howard Johnson to make extra money.

“I pledge that if I am confirmed I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution and laws of this great country,” Gorsuch said in his remarks.

The Supreme Court’s work is vital not just to a region of the country, but to the whole, vital to the protection of the people’s liberties under law and to the continuity of our Constitution, the greatest charter of human liberty the world has ever known, he said.

IMAGE:Neil Gorsuch stands with his wife Marie Louise as U.S. President Donald Trump announces his nomination. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

House Speaker Paul Ryan said in Gorsuch, Trump had fulfilled his pledge to nominate a judge who has demonstrated loyalty to the Constitution and strong commitment to life.

“He is a phenomenal nominee for the Supreme Court. His belief in judicial restraint will serve the Court and the country very well,” he said.

“Congress and the American people don’t want a liberal Supreme Court justice or a conservative Supreme Court justice. We want a justice who will decide cases based on the law and the Constitution as they are written. Neil Gorsuch appears to fit that mould,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

The Democrats voiced their opposition to the nominee.

“Given his record, I have very serious doubts about Judge Gorsuch’s ability to meet this standard. Judge Gorsuch has repeatedly sided with corporations over working people, demonstrated a hostility toward women’s rights, and most troubling, hewed to an ideological approach to jurisprudence that makes me sceptical that he can be a strong, independent Justice on the Court,” said Senate Minority Leader Senator Charles Schumer.

“Make no mistake, Senate Democrats will not simply allow but require an exhaustive, robust, and comprehensive debate on Judge Gorsuch’s fitness to be a Supreme Court Justice,” he said, adding that the Senate must insist upon 60-votes for any Supreme Court nominee, a bar that was met by each of President Obama’s nominees.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy said he had hoped that Trump would work in a bipartisan way to pick a mainstream nominee like Merrick Garland and bring the country together.

“Instead, he outsourced this process to far-right interest groups. This is no way to treat a co-equal branch of government, or to protect the independence of our Federal judiciary,” he said.

“We need a Supreme Court justice who will honour established precedent, including the constitutional right to privacy and Roe v Wade. That Justice is not Neil Gorsuch,” said Vicki Saporta president and CEO of National Abortion Federation. </s> U.S. Supreme Court nominee judge Neil Gorsuch smiles in reaction to a question as he testifies during the third day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. on March 22, 2017. (REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo)

Neil Gorsuch, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, is due to be sworn in on Monday morning with a formal appearance at the White House, marking the biggest triumph so far for the new administration.

The lifetime appointment reinstates the nine-seat court’s 5-4 conservative majority, fulfilling an important Trump campaign promise.

“He will be a great Justice,” Trump said in a Twitter post on Saturday. “Very proud of him!”

Gorsuch, 49, was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991 picked Clarence Thomas, who was 43 at the time. Gorsuch could be expected to serve for decades, while Trump could make further appointments to the high court to make it even more solidly conservative because three of the eight justices are 78 or older.

Gorsuch, whom the Senate confirmed on Friday, will take his judicial oath at 11 a.m. EDT in a Rose Garden ceremony. It will be administered by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch clerked as a young lawyer.

Gorsuch will become the first justice to serve alongside a former boss.

At 9 a.m. EDT, Gorsuch is due to take his separate constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court .

The Senate, which last year refused to consider Democratic former president Barack Obama’s nominee to the court, on Friday voted 54-45 to approve Colorado-based federal appeals court judge Gorsuch. The vote brought to an end to an almost 14-month battle over a vacancy created by the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

Once sworn in, Gorsuch can prepare for the next round of oral arguments, starting on April 17, at the court, whose current term ends in June.

He will also participate in the justices’ private conference on Thursday to consider taking new cases. Appeals are pending on expanding gun rights to include carrying concealed firearms in public, state voting restrictions that critics say are aimed at reducing minority turnout, and allowing business owners to object on religious grounds to providing gay couples certain services.

Gorsuch could also play a vital role in some cases on which his new colleagues may have been split 4-4 and therefore did not yet decide. Those cases may have to be reargued in the court’s next term, which starts in October. </s> Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump will nominate Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Trump announced Tuesday night at the White House.

The nomination of Gorsuch, a 49-year-old federal appellate judge from Colorado, gives Trump and Republicans the opportunity to confirm someone who could cement the conservative direction of the court for decades.

His selection also sets up an intense fight with Senate Democrats, still angry over the Republicans' decision to essentially ignore former President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland for the empty Supreme Court seat last year.

Introducing Gorsuch, Trump said he had committed as a candidate to "find the very best judge in the country for the Supreme Court."

"Millions of voters said this was the single most important issue for them when they voted for me for president," Trump said. "I am a man of my word."

"Today I am keeping another promise to the American people by nominating Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court."

The court has been operating with eight justices since the sudden death last February of Justice Antonin Scalia. If confirmed, Gorsuch would continue the ideological balance that existed before Scalia's death, with four conservatives, four liberals and Justice Anthony Kennedy as a swing vote between the blocs.

Trump selected Gorsuch -- who sits on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals -- from a list of 20 potential justices compiled during the presidential campaign in a direct appeal to conservative and evangelical voters skeptical about his commitment to their values.

Gorsuch's opinions on religious liberty, where he sided with the challengers to the so-called Obamacare contraceptive mandate, and on the separation of powers, where he said too much deference was given by the courts to administrative agencies, are key to his appeal to Republicans. As is his age. At 49, he could carry on Trump's legacy long after the President leaves office.

Gorsuch's legal philosophy

Unlike others on Trump's list, Gorsuch has an Ivy League pedigree, having attended Columbia and Harvard, and also studied at Oxford, where he earned a doctorate in legal philosophy.

Gorsuch is a fourth-generation Coloradan and a former clerk to both Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.

"It is an extraordinary resume. As good as it gets," Trump said.

"The qualifications of Judge Gorsuch are beyond dispute," Trump said. "I only hope that Democrats and Republicans can come together for one, for the good of the country."

On the bench he joined an opinion siding with closely held corporations who believed that the so-called contraceptive mandate of Obamacare violated their religious beliefs. The ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Court. Gorsuch wrote separately holding that the mandate infringed upon the owners' religious beliefs "requiring them to lend what their religion teaches to be an impermissible degree of assistance to the commission of what their religion teaches to be a moral wrong."

He also wrote a majority opinion in a separation of powers case holding that too much deference was given to administrative agencies. This issue is a favorite of conservatives and Gorsuch's beliefs align with those of Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas.

Gorsuch, in a speech last year at Case Western Reserve University School of law, aligned himself with Scalia's judicial philosophy.

"The great project of Justice Scalia's career was to remind us of the differences between judges and legislators. To remind us that legislators may appeal to their own moral convictions and to claims about social utility to reshape the law as they think it should be in the future, " he said. "But that judges should do none of these things in a democratic society."

At the White House Gorsuch he would faithfully commit to upholding the laws of the nation, saying he would act as a "servant of the Constitution and laws of this country."

Like Trump, he cited Scalia as a model.

"Justice Scalia was a lion of the law," he said.

Democratic opposition and the ghost of Garland

Senate Democratic leaders instantly painted Gorsuch as an extremist and said he must get the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

"Judge Gorsuch has repeatedly sided with corporations over working people, demonstrated a hostility toward women's rights, and most troubling, hewed to an ideological approach to jurisprudence that makes me skeptical that he can be a strong, independent justice on the court," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Trump "outsourced this process to far-right interest groups."

"President Trump said he would appoint justices who would overturn 40 years of jurisprudence established in Roe v. Wade," Leahy said. "Judge Gorsuch has shown a willingness to limit women's access to health care that suggests the President is making good on that promise."

For Democrats, the nomination is made worse by what happened with Garland.

When Obama nominated Garland to take Scalia's seat last year, liberals hoped that they would get a liberal majority that would swing the court left on key issues such as abortion, campaign finance and voting rights.

But Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings, citing the impending election which was still eight months away.

JUST WATCHED Who is Judge Neil Gorsuch? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Who is Judge Neil Gorsuch? 00:48

Democrats have said they would fight the new nominee "tooth and nail" putting not only his or her credentials to the test, but holding Republicans responsible for what liberals say is a "stolen seat."

After Trump's unexpected win, conservatives rejoiced, expecting the new president to nominate someone to the bench in the mold of Scalia. They also hope that with three justices on the Supreme Court in their late 70s and early 80s, Trump might have at least one more vacancy to fill.

If, for example, Justice Anthony Kennedy were to step down, the conservatives might be able to chip away at Roe v. Wade, the landmark opinion that legalized abortion.

Mother was EPA administrator

Gorsuch's confirmation would mean a return to Washington.

He spent part of his youth in Washington when his mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, served in the Reagan administration as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

She resigned in 1983 under controversy after refusing to turn over toxic waste records to Congress.

He served as a partner at a prestigious Washington Law firm, Kellogg, Huber as well as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General.

Gorsuch and his wife Louise have two daughters. They live in Boulder, Colorado. </s> WASHINGTON — Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate on Friday to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court, capping a political brawl that lasted for more than a year and tested constitutional norms inside the Capitol’s fraying upper chamber.

The moment was a triumph for President Trump, whose campaign appeal to reluctant Republicans last year rested in large part on his pledge to appoint another committed conservative to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. However rocky the first months of his administration may have been, Mr. Trump now has a lasting legacy: Judge Gorsuch, 49, could serve on the court for 30 years or more.

“As a deep believer in the rule of law, Judge Gorsuch will serve the American people with distinction as he continues to faithfully and vigorously defend our Constitution,” the president said.

The final tally was 54-45 in favor of confirmation.

The confirmation was also a vindication of the bare-knuckled strategy of Senate Republicans, who refused even to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Merrick B. Garland, saying the choice of the next justice should belong to the next president. </s> Neil Gorsuch Named to the U.S. Supreme Court

Divided Senate confirms conservative jurist Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, win for President Trump, Republicans.

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan issued the following statement regarding Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court:

“During his campaign, President Trump promised the American people a new Supreme Court Justice, one that would respect the laws of our nation and fairly interpret the Constitution. Today, that promise from President Trump was fulfilled as the Senate confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court.”

“The Alabama Republican Party commends those senators who chose to expedite Judge Gorsuch’s nomination on behalf of the American people. We are proud of the strong support from Alabama’s Senators, Senator Shelby and Senator Strange, throughout the entire confirmation process. During his confirmation hearing, Judge Gorsuch proved time and time again that he is dedicated to upholding the rule of law in our nation. Through hours of questioning and strict scrutiny from Democrat senators intending only to damage his reputation, Judge Gorsuch held fast and answered every question openly and honestly.”

“We look forward to seeing an individual with such strong character, consistent judicial balance and passion for the law serve on our nation’s highest court.”

Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) issued the following statement following Senate confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. “Neil Gorsuch is the perfect replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, and I applaud the Senate for confirming him to serve on our nation’s highest court. Judge Gorsuch has distinguished himself as a thoughtful and balanced jurist who understands it is not the job of the courts to write laws but rather to interpret the law as written. Our nation will be better off with him on the Supreme Court.”

Joining Republican colleagues in the restoration of Senate tradition, Alabama Senator Luther Strange today voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch as Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. The final vote on Justice Gorsuch came following an unprecedented confirmation process marred by Democrats’ disregard for the Senate’s responsibility of advice and consent. Moving forward with a full bench, the Supreme Court is poised to rule for a generation with renewed devotion to the Constitution.

“For so many Americans, casting a vote last November for Donald Trump meant restoring faith in the federal judiciary. Alabamians want a high court that respects and affirms the rule of law, and because of today’s historic vote, that is what they are getting. I was proud to cast my vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch and help the President deliver on this important promise. His intellect, humility and fair judgment were displayed throughout the hearing process, and I look forward to these tremendous assets being employed on behalf of our nation’s highest court.”

U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-Ala.) today celebrated the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.

“I applaud the Senate for wasting no time in confirming Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. I believe our country will benefit from the new energy and experience that Justice Gorsuch will bring to the bench,” Roby said. “Throughout the confirmation process, Justice Gorsuch proved himself to be a highly capable individual who is supremely qualified for this great responsibility. I believe his stated commitment to interpreting the Constitution as it was written will hasten a long overdue return to the separation of powers and rule of law in this country.” </s> Neil Gorsuch testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on his nomination to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court during a hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2017.

Gorsuch says he’s made no promises for rulings

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is telling senators that he keeps “an open mind for the entire process” when he issues rulings.

“No such thing as a Republican judge or a Democratic judge”: Gorsuch

Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court pick, said on Tuesday he would have no trouble ruling against the president because there’s “no such thing as a Republican judge or a Democratic judge.”

Gorsuch: No difficulty ruling against any party

In his second day of confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch says he has no trouble ruling against anyone, even President Donald Trump, if that’s what the law requires.

Judge Neil Gorsuch gave his opening statement on Monday, the first day of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “If I am confirmed, I will do all my powers permit, to be a faithful servant to the constitution and laws of this great nation,” Gorsuch said.
President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Neil Gorsuch is the youngest nominee to the court in 25 years.