Neil Gorsuch, picked by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, was sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court justice at the White House on Monday and was poised to have an instant impact on a court once again dominated by conservatives.
Trump earned the biggest political victory of his presidency and fulfilled a major campaign promise when the Senate voted on Friday to confirm the conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado to the lifetime job despite vehement Democratic opposition. With Gorsuch aboard, the court once again has five conservative justices and four liberals.
Gorsuch took his judicial oath in a White House Rose Garden ceremony with Trump watching on, filling a vacancy that lingered for nearly 14 months after the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. The oath was administered by Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch worked as a clerk as a young lawyer. Gorsuch will become the first justice to serve alongside a former boss.
All the other members of the court were at the ceremony, including liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who called Trump "a faker" last year during the presidential campaign but later said she regretted the remark. Trump at the time called on her to resign and said her "mind is shot."
Scalia's widow, Maureen, also attended the ceremony.
Gorsuch earlier in the day took his separate constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court with the other justices.
Trump made Gorsuch, 49, the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991 selected Clarence Thomas, who was then 43. Gorsuch could be expected to serve for decades, and Trump could make further appointments to the high court to make it even more solidly conservative, with three of the eight justices 78 or older: Ginsburg, 84; fellow liberal Stephen Breyer, 78; and conservative swing vote Kennedy, 80.
Gorsuch will take part in the court's next round of oral arguments, starting on April 17. They include a closely watched religious rights case on April 19 in which a Missouri church is objecting to being frozen out of state funds for a playground project due to a state ban on providing public money to religious organizations.
He is expected to take part in oral arguments in 13 cases during the court's current term, which ends in June.
Gorsuch can be expected to have an immediate impact of the court. He takes part on Thursday in the justices' private conference to decide which cases to take up. Appeals are pending before the justices on expanding gun rights to include carrying concealed firearms in public, state voting restrictions that critics say are aimed at reducing minority turnout, and letting Christian business owners object on religious grounds to providing gay couples certain services.
Gorsuch could also play a vital role in some cases on which his new colleagues may have been split 4-4 along ideological lines and therefore did not yet decide. Those cases potentially could be reargued in the court's next term, which starts in October.
Gorsuch's wife, Louise, and his two daughters were also present at the private constitutional oath ceremony at the court, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg. Louise Gorsuch held a family Bible as her husband took the oath, Arberg said.
The Senate, which last year refused to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland, voted 54-45 to confirm Gorsuch.
Reuters
Mon Apr 10 2017
Trump made Gorsuch (pix) the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991 selected Clarence Thomas, who was then 43. Filepic
Qatar nilai semula peranan sebagai pengantara gencatan senjata Gaza
Qatar sedang menilai semula peranannya sebagai orang tengah dalam rundingan gencatan senjata antara Pejuang Hamas dan Israel.
UNSC akan mengundi Jumaat mengenai keahlian PBB Palestin
Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (UNSC)dijadual mengundi atas permintaan Palestin untuk menjadi ahli penuh PBB, pada Jumaat.
Lebih 14,000 kanak-kanak dibunuh di Gaza, Israel telah mengalahkan Hitler - Presiden Turki
Israel melakukan pembunuhan beramai-ramai yang merupakan aib dalam sejarah manusia, baik di Gaza dan Tebing Barat, tegas Erdogan.
14 orang cedera dalam serangan Hizbullah ke atas pusat komando Israel
Hizbullah sifatkan, serangan itu "sebagai tindak balas kepada pembunuhan beberapa pejuang penentangan."
Israel akan mempertahankan dirinya sendiri - Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel akan membuat keputusan sendiri dan akan melakukan segala yang diperlukan untuk mempertahankan diri.
Kerajaan Perak bantu pelajar bawa pulang kitab Turath
Kerajaan negeri Perak menghargai jasa pelajar tajaan MAIPk itu yang bersungguh-sungguh mengumpulkan khazanah berharga tersebut.
FAM mahu persatuan, kelab belia kreatif lahirkan pemain berkualiti
Negara tidak seharusnya terlalu bergantung kepada bakat di sekolah sukan atau Akademi Mokhtar Dahari dalam melahirkan bintang bola sepak.
Manja Man pengendali baharu Kelantan FC
Bekas pemain pertahanan itu yakin Kelantan memiliki bakat muda yang mampu dibentuk menjadi pemain bernilai bagi pasukan kembali digeruni.
10 peratus daripada 1,900 premis di Selangor tidak patuhi piawaian FC
Selain tidak melaksanakan latihan kebakaran, premis berkenaan juga didapati tidak akur dari segi piawaian pengubahsuaian bangunan.
IMF semak naik unjuran KDNK Malaysia kepada 4.4 peratus bagi 2024
IMF menerusi Tinjauan Ekonomi Dunia terbaharunya juga menjangkakan pertumbuhan KDNK kekal pada 4.4 peratus dalam 2025.
7 juri dipilih dalam bicara kes wang sogok yang dihadapi Trump
Tujuh juri dipilih dalam perbicaraan kes wang sogok Donald Trump di New York, perbicaraan jenayah pertama terhadap bekas presiden Amerika Syarikat.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan skandal Donald Trump - bintang porno bermula
Donald Trump menjadi bekas Presiden Amerika Syarikat pertama yang menghadapi perbicaraan kes jenayah.
Bicara kes bayaran tutup mulut yang dihadapi Trump bermula dengan pemilihan juri
Donald Trump akan menjadi bekas presiden pertama dalam sejarah Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang dibicarakan atas tuduhan jenayah.
Trump gagal tangguh, perbicaraan tetap berlangsung 15 April ini
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.
Biden menang pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara
Dalam pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara, terdapat 13 perwakilan ditawarkan dan kebanyakan pengundian dilakukan melalui undi pos.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan Donald Trump bermula 15 April
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
'Demokrasi AS berakhir jika saya tewas pilihan raya' - Trump
Trump memberitahu penyokongnya jika beliau tidak memenangi pilihan raya, ia bermakna kemungkinan demokrasi AS akan berakhir.