Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the United States Supreme Court today.
Let’s look at how we got here.
In March 2016, President Obama nominated Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland, a completely qualified judge, to the Supreme Court seat created by the death of Antonin Scalia.
For much of election year 2016, the Republicans in the House and Senate said that “the next president” should pick the justice to fill the open seat created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Then, in November of 2016, when it looked like Hillary Clinton was going to win the presidency, leading members of the House and Senate said that if Clinton won, they would block all of her Supreme Court nominations. This meant that their earlier claim was false. They clearly meant that no Democratic president would be allowed to name a justice to the Supreme Court opening created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, and that they would block Clinton’s nominees for the next 4 or 8 years.
Fast forward to the current era, after Trump won the presidency. Trump asked for a list of potential SCOTUS nominees from the Heritage Foundation and others. From that list, he picked Appeals Court Judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee to the Supreme Court.
Today, the Republican-majority Senate confirmed Trump’s nominee, approving Gorsuch’s lifetime appointment as Associate Justice in the Supreme Court of the United States.
I will add to this post. Please watch for more on Gorsuch’s qualifications.