Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Trump nominates new judge for Supreme Court

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, Reuters reports.

Gorsuch, a 49-year-old native of Colorado, faces a potentially contentious confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate after Republicans last year refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obama's nominee to fill the vacancy caused by the February 2016 death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia.

Announcing the selection of Gorsuch at the White House flanked by the judge and his wife, Trump said his resume is "as good as it gets."

Trump added he hopes Republicans and Democrats can come together on this nomination for the good of the country.

"Judge Gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous disciple, and has earned bipartisan support," Trump said, according to Reuters.

"Depending on their age, a justice can be active for 50 years. And his or her decisions can last a century or more, and can often be permanent," the President added.

Gorsuch is a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and was appointed to that post by President George W. Bush in 2006.

Some of the Democrats in the Senate, which votes on whether to confirm judicial nominees, have already said they would seek to block whoever Trump nominates. READ MORE