Trump’s Supreme Court pick set to ignite heated debate

Trump’s choice will restore the court to the conservative tilt. After a reality television buildup to Tuesday’s announcement – including a senior Trump adviser saying more than one court candidate was heading to Washington ahead of the event- the actual reveal was traditional and drama-free. The 49-year-old also has owned what he lists as a “mountain property” he estimated is worth up to $500,000 that is held as a limited liability corporation called Walden Group LLC. Each is a Republican appointee with a decade-long record on the federal bench. The thought that President Trump could appoint replacements makes Democrats shudder. The attorneys-general of four states are suing him over the order, calling it unconstitutional and “un-American”.

Mr Trump’s remarks came as Democrats have launched a battle over Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation, insisting that Senate Republicans abide by the rule of requiring 60 votes, as was the case with Mr Obama’s nominees.

Boies said there have to be the same rules for both Republicans and Democrats.

Trump said at a breakfast for small business leaders that his nominee is someone “unbelievably highly respected“.

Even if Judge Gorsuch makes it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, he will face challenges when the entire chamber convenes for a final vote. Senator Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed lawmakers will confirm Trump’s nominee.

“We had two nominations in the first term of President [Bill] Clinton – [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg and [Stephen] Breyer”, McConnell said. “Abortion is health care, and it should be health professionals who determine what procedures and services are the standard of care-not judges and politicians”.

President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacancy after Antonin Scalia died almost a year ago. That’s when Reid dropped the threshold needed to move along lower-court judges and executive nominees. “In choosing him, Mr. Trump reached for a reliably conservative figure in Justice Scalia’s mold, but not someone known to be divisive”.

Boies, who helped lead the legal fight to overturn California’s gay marriage ban and paved the way for marriage equality, said Gorsuch’s ideology is “probably comparable” to Justice Scalia’s, “maybe even a little more conservative on some issues”.

Judge Gorsuch has an impressive background, with a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, a law degree from Harvard and a philosophy degree from Oxford.

Hardiman is a MA native with working-class roots.

The Colorado judge was the president of the right-wing club during his time at the prestigious Georgetown Preparatory school in the 1980s.

A graduate of Georgetown University’s law school, Hardiman would be the only justice on the court now who didn’t earn a law degree from an Ivy League school. It is up to the Court to decide if the president and congress are acting in accordance with the constitution.