Washington – US President Donald Trump on Tuesday chose Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to fill a seat on the US Supreme Court that has been vacant for nearly a year.
Gorsuch, 49, is a solid conservative who currently serves as a justice on the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over six western US states.
The Senate unanimously approved his nomination to that position 10 years ago.
“Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline, and has earned bipartisan support,” Trump said.
Trump said he had studied his opinions and every aspect of Gorsuch’s life before choosing him to fill the vacancy created when Antonin Scalia died nearly a year ago.
Scalia was a staunch conservative, known for a judicial philosophy of adherence to the original intent of the US Constitution.
US President Donald Trump announces Judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to be Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, in the East Room of the White House, January 31, 2017, Washington, DC. (Credit Image: © Ron Sachs/CNP via ZUMA Wire)
Trump said Scalia’s “image and genius” was in his mind throughout the decision-making process, adding that Gorsuch stood out not only because he shares legal philosophy with Scalia, but also because he brings “an extraordinary resume.”
Gorsuch received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in New York City. He graduated from Harvard Law School and then went on to receive his doctorate at Oxford. After law school, he was a clerk on the Supreme Court for both Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.
Gorsuch, if approved, would become the youngest member of the court by several years. Age is considered important because Supreme Court justices may keep their seats for life.
Gorsuch was born and raised in Colorado and while in law school, Trump said he had demonstrated a commitment to helping the less fortunate, working for both the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project and the Harvard Defenders programme.
The president said he hoped Democrats and Republicans in the Senate could come together “for once for the good of the country” and approve the nomination.
Gorsuch was “a man of our country and a man our country badly needs,” he said.
Gorsuch said he was thinking of the men and women he had worked with in the circuit court as he accepted the nomination at the White House.
“Standing here in a house of history, and acutely aware of my own imperfections, 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,” he said.
The court, which during the Obama administration issued several landmark decisions, including the 2015 ruling making same-sex marriage legal throughout the country, has operated with just eight justices since the Senate’s refusal to consider former president Barack Obama’s nominee.
Obama, a Democrat, had selected Judge Merrick Garland for the post, but the Republican-controlled Senate refused to give him a hearing.
