GORSUCH IS THE GUY | He’s Hired. (You’re Fired.)

February 1, 2017

Last night, PRESIDENT TRUMP announced that JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH is his guy, his pick, his nominee to be the newest Supreme Court justice.

After all the anticipation, we finally have a nominee. Could this be the guy to finally fill the seat left vacant by JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA almost a year ago? Should liberals be worried? Should conservatives be thrilled? These are the 5 things you need to know now, written by yours truly.

Adam Liptak with The New York Times tells us what comes next in the vetting and confirmation process, pointing to the questionnaire, private meetings on the Hill, and the very scary sounding “murder board.”

Gabe Roth, Executive Director of Fix the Court, released a statement this morning highlighting information relating to JUDGE GORSUCH’S views and experiences on judicial accountability and is “calling on the nominee not to demur when asked tough questions on relevant legal issues.” FTC: “When Judge Gorsuch is asked about the issues of the day—whether from PRESIDENT TRUMP’S executive order banning refugees and immigrants from certain countries is constitutional to whether an investigation should be undertaken to find out if millions of people voted illegally in November—it is Fix the Court’s belief that he should not stay silent. Rather, he should be required to explain whether such actions comport with our nation’s laws and values.”

Only 49 years old, MR. GORSUCH supposedly looks like most of the current Supreme Court justices putting personal ideology aside, and he should be pretty easy to confirm. This from a study prepared by Lee Epstein, Andrew D. Martin of the University of Michigan and Kevin Quinn of the University of California, Berkeley.

Not everyone was happy to hear the night’s SCOTUS news. Civil liberties groups and hundreds of protesters rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court last night to voice their dissent against GORSUCH as a nominee.

If confirmed, JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH would join the high court’s millionaire’s club. Although, he doesn’t own stock in individual companies—unlike some of the other justices on the bench. Zoe Tillman for Buzzfeed reports that if he joins the Supreme Court, he will have to continue to file financial disclosures, though he won’t have to follow other rules that apply to lower court judges. For instance, he would no longer have to follow the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges, a set of ethics rules that build on federal laws addressing conflicts of interest on the bench.

Grouch? Or Gorsuch? Which is it? If you ask autocorrect, it’s the former. Last night following the announcement of his nomination, social media lit up and made clear that just about anyone can fall victim to autocorrect. A litany of tweets and posts appeared referring to the new nominee as “Neil Grouch.” Nate Robson with The National Law Journal provides screenshots and photos of what he’s calling “the autocorrecting fiasco.”

Yesterday’s SCOTUS announcement was something of a spectacle, compared by many to a finale episode of “The Bachelor” or, more appropriately, “The Apprentice.” Maggie Haberman, Michael M. Grynbaum and Rob Nixon with The New York Times report on the event noting how it reflects Mr. Trump’s “penchant for the theatrical.”