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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Supreme court nomination live: Trump picks Neil Gorsuch to be ninth justice | Supreme court nomination live: Trump picks Neil Gorsuch to be ninth justice |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 1.54am GMT | |
| 01:54 | |
| Ben Sasse – the conservative Republican senator for Nebraska who didn’t vote for Trump in November – is having a little fun with his statement (although the qualifying “hogwash” suggests he wants to be sure we don’t take the hyperbole seriously): | |
| Neil Gorsuch is a highly-regarded jurist with a record of distinguished service, rooted in respect for the law. He was confirmed unanimously by Democrats and Republicans. | |
| Senator Schumer is about to tell Americans that Judge Gorsuch kicks puppies and heckles piano recitals. That’s hogwash. | |
| Democrats are working overtime to cast Judge Gorsuch as a reflexive partisan but, as I said when Justice Scalia died, there are no Republican or Democratic seats on the supreme court. This shouldn’t be a partisan debate but an opportunity to teach our kids civics. | |
| In the coming weeks, everyone who loves the constitution should celebrate the uniquely American idea that government power must be limited and that those in power must be checked and balanced. | |
| 1.48am GMT | |
| 01:48 | |
| Sensing some sarcasm from the Democratic representative for California: | |
| Just like Merrick Garland, Neil Gorsuch is a respected judge. He should receive the same type of fair & honest consideration in the Senate. | |
| 1.46am GMT | |
| 01:46 | |
| Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell says Trump has made an “outstanding decision”, saying Gorsuch has: | |
| a long record of faithfully applying the law and the constitution. | |
| McConnell notes that Gorsuch was confirmed by voice vote in the Senate in 2006: | |
| I hope members of the Senate will again show him fair consideration and respect the result of the recent election with an up-or-down vote on his nomination, just like the Senate treated the four first-term nominees of presidents Clinton and Obama. | |
| (But not like Obama’s second-term nominee Merrick Garland, he might have added, but didn’t.) | |
| 1.41am GMT | |
| 01:41 | |
| I don’t believe he’s tweeting from it himself, but Neil Gorsuch has a new verified Twitter account: @GorsuchFacts. | |
| The bio reads: | |
| Judge Gorsuch will be fair to all regardless of their background or beliefs. This is exactly the kind of #SCOTUS Justice @POTUS promised. #JusticeGorsuch | |
| Join us in congratulating Judge Neil Gorsuch on his nomination for #SCOTUS! Read his bio here: https://t.co/Im2VNUG6Bk #JusticeGorsuch pic.twitter.com/7HD7Xzc29L | |
| 1.36am GMT | |
| 01:36 | |
| Where does Gorsuch stand? | |
| Tom McCarthy | |
| Gorsuch’s track record as a judge on the US court of appeals for the 10th circuit does not shed obvious light on how he might rule as a supreme court justice on hot-button topics such as abortion and marriage equality. He is the author of a book about euthanasia in which he writes, “to act intentionally against life is to suggest that its value rests only on its transient instrumental usefulness for other ends”. | |
| Ideological strands running through Gorsuch’s appeals court rulings would seem likely to endear him to congressional Republicans and Trump’s conservative base. He has shown himself to be solicitous to claims of religious exemptions from the law, to gun rights claims and to the prosecution of death penalty cases. | |
| During Trump’s announcement, Gorsuch addressed the crowd briefly, declaring himself “honored and humbled” and promising to be a “faithful servant to the constitution and laws of this great country” and paying tribute to the principles of partiality, independence, collegiality and courage. | |
| “A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge,” Gorsuch said, “stretching” for rulings he desires instead of reading the law on the page. | |
| 1.32am GMT | |
| 01:32 | |
| Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, says Gorsuch must also be subject to the 60-vote “super-majority” rule – “a bar that was met by each of President Obama’s nominees” – rather than a simple majority confirmation: | |
| The burden is on Judge Neil Gorsuch to prove himself to be within the legal mainstream and, in this new era, willing to vigorously defend the constitution from abuses of the executive branch and protect the constitutionally enshrined rights of all Americans. | |
| Given his record, I have very serious doubts about Judge Gorsuch’s ability to meet this standard. | |
| 1.26am GMT | |
| 01:26 | |
| A dissenting voice comes from Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the minority leader of the Senate committee on the judiciary. | |
| Leahy says: | |
| In light of the unconstitutional actions of our new president in just his first week, the Senate owes the American people a thorough and unsparing examination of this nomination … | |
| President Trump said he would appoint justices who would overturn 40 years of jurisprudence established in Roe v Wade. Judge Gorsuch has shown a willingness to limit women’s access to healthcare that suggests the president is making good on that promise … | |
| I question whether Judge Gorsuch meets the high standard set by Merrick Garland. | |
| 1.21am GMT | |
| 01:21 | |
| Texas Senator Ted Cruz is also a happy man: | |
| Our country desperately needs #SCOTUS justices who revere the Constitution and are willing to elevate it over their own personal preferences https://t.co/bKGwBnhVyx | |
| I wholeheartedly applaud President Trump for nominating Judge Gorsuch: https://t.co/nJ2kxct3vM | |
| 1.17am GMT | 1.17am GMT |
| 01:17 | 01:17 |
| Vice-president Mike Pence is on board: | Vice-president Mike Pence is on board: |
| Judge Gorsuch is one of the most mainstream, respected, and exceptionally qualified Supreme Court nominees in American history. | Judge Gorsuch is one of the most mainstream, respected, and exceptionally qualified Supreme Court nominees in American history. |
| “Mainstream” is an interesting choice of word – a challenge to Democrats who had signalled the possibility of blocking or slowing any confirmation of a Trump pick. | “Mainstream” is an interesting choice of word – a challenge to Democrats who had signalled the possibility of blocking or slowing any confirmation of a Trump pick. |
| 1.14am GMT | 1.14am GMT |
| 01:14 | 01:14 |
| “Impartiality and independence, collegiality and courage” is what is expected of judges, Gorsuch says. | “Impartiality and independence, collegiality and courage” is what is expected of judges, Gorsuch says. |
| A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. | A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. |
| He says he will speak to people on both sides ahead of his confirmation. | He says he will speak to people on both sides ahead of his confirmation. |
| He says his family, friends and faith keep him grounded, and thanks them. His wife Louise is standing beside him at the lectern. | He says his family, friends and faith keep him grounded, and thanks them. His wife Louise is standing beside him at the lectern. |
| Gorsuch winds up by saying he is honored and humbled, and thanks Trump. | Gorsuch winds up by saying he is honored and humbled, and thanks Trump. |
| 1.13am GMT | 1.13am GMT |
| 01:13 | 01:13 |
| Tom McCarthy | Tom McCarthy |
| President Donald Trump has nominated circuit court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacant seat on the US supreme court, setting up a showdown with congressional Democrats and activists over a pick that could shape the ideological bent of the court for a generation. | President Donald Trump has nominated circuit court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the vacant seat on the US supreme court, setting up a showdown with congressional Democrats and activists over a pick that could shape the ideological bent of the court for a generation. |
| Gorsuch, 49, the youngest supreme court nominee in 25 years, was among a group of federal judges reported in recent weeks to be on Trump’s shortlist. A strict adherent of judicial restraint known for sharply-written opinions and bedrock conservative views, Gorsuch, a Colorado native, is popular among his peers and is seen as having strong backing among Republicans generally. | Gorsuch, 49, the youngest supreme court nominee in 25 years, was among a group of federal judges reported in recent weeks to be on Trump’s shortlist. A strict adherent of judicial restraint known for sharply-written opinions and bedrock conservative views, Gorsuch, a Colorado native, is popular among his peers and is seen as having strong backing among Republicans generally. |
| The nomination landed at a moment of sharply-increasing alarm that the Trump administration plans to pursue extremist policies on core questions likely to come before the court, from religious equality to abortion rights to campaign finance, voting rights, access to healthcare, marriage equality, anti-discrimination protections and more. | The nomination landed at a moment of sharply-increasing alarm that the Trump administration plans to pursue extremist policies on core questions likely to come before the court, from religious equality to abortion rights to campaign finance, voting rights, access to healthcare, marriage equality, anti-discrimination protections and more. |
| Trump’s nominee has the potential to tip the court one way or the other on those questions. If confirmed, Gorsuch would return the court to nine justices, filling a seat left vacant since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. | Trump’s nominee has the potential to tip the court one way or the other on those questions. If confirmed, Gorsuch would return the court to nine justices, filling a seat left vacant since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. |
| 1.11am GMT | 1.11am GMT |
| 01:11 | 01:11 |
| Gorsuch says Scalia was “a lion of the law”. His voice cracks slightly as he adds: “I miss him.” | Gorsuch says Scalia was “a lion of the law”. His voice cracks slightly as he adds: “I miss him.” |
| 1.10am GMT | 1.10am GMT |
| 01:10 | 01:10 |
| Neil Gorsuch speaks | Neil Gorsuch speaks |
| Gorsuch says the president and his team “have shown me great courtesy in this process”. | Gorsuch says the president and his team “have shown me great courtesy in this process”. |
| He says he is “acutely aware of my own imperfections”. | He says he is “acutely aware of my own imperfections”. |
| 1.09am GMT | 1.09am GMT |
| 01:09 | 01:09 |
| While in law school Gorsuch developed a reputation for helping the less fortunate, Trump says. | While in law school Gorsuch developed a reputation for helping the less fortunate, Trump says. |
| He could have had any job at any law firm with any amount of money … He wanted to make an impact. | He could have had any job at any law firm with any amount of money … He wanted to make an impact. |
| He is a man who our country really needs, and needs badly, to ensure the rule of law. | He is a man who our country really needs, and needs badly, to ensure the rule of law. |
| 1.07am GMT | 1.07am GMT |
| 01:07 | 01:07 |
| Trump says Gorsuch has “tremendous bipartisan support”. | Trump says Gorsuch has “tremendous bipartisan support”. |
| “Was that a surprise, was it?” the president asks the audience of his pick. (It’s not clear what the answer is supposed to be.) | “Was that a surprise, was it?” the president asks the audience of his pick. (It’s not clear what the answer is supposed to be.) |
| Trump says Gorsuch is the “ultimate” representative of the late Justice Scalia. | Trump says Gorsuch is the “ultimate” representative of the late Justice Scalia. |
| 1.05am GMT | 1.05am GMT |
| 01:05 | 01:05 |
| Trump’s autocue might have scooped his own announcement: | Trump’s autocue might have scooped his own announcement: |
| It's Gorsuch per the teleprompter | It's Gorsuch per the teleprompter |