TRUMP PICKS COLO. APPEALS COURT JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH FOR SUPRME COURT
Robert Barnes
President Trump nominated Colorado federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, opting in the most important decision of his young presidency for a highly credentialed favorite of the conservative legal establishment to fill the opening created last year by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Gorsuch, 49, prevailed over the other finalist, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, also a federal appeals court judge, and Trump announced the nomination at a televised prime-time event at the White House.
The bonhomie of the ceremony was in stark contrast to the reaction of Democrats, who are ready for a pitched battle over the future of the Supreme Court. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Gorsuch will have to win over some Democratic senators to get the 60 votes needed to clear procedural hurdles.
Trump broke tradition by entering the White House ceremony by himself, rather than alongside his nominee. He declared that after “what may be the most transparent judicial selection process in history,” he had delivered on a campaign promise to “find the very best judge in America” for the court.
Gorsuch took a humbler approach, and showed the flair for language that has won him praise as a legal writer.
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