Supreme Court Appointment

"Smile, Natalie, there is justice in the world."
--Bud Fox (Wall Street)

Last night President Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, currently an appellate judge on the 10th Circuit, for the Supreme Court. Gorsuch would replace Justice Antonin Scalia who died suddenly last February.

During his campaign, Trump promised to appoint an individual with strong constitutional grounding. Many thought that Trump was just blowing smoke--essentially trying to entice skeptics in the Republican party to come over to his side.

However, like many other actions that he has taken in the short time since he was sworn in, Trump appears to have fulfilled another promise. A review of Neil Gorsuch's record suggests that he is every bit the originalist and textualist that Scalia was--perhaps even more so. Assuming that he makes it through the blockade that leftists are certain to mount during the confirmation process, Gorsuch appears to have the stuff to be a justice dedicated to upholding constitutional rule of law.

An interesting implication of this appointment is that, because the president himself has not demonstrated that he is ideologically grounded in the Constitution, Trump could find himself at odds with Gorsuch's legal opinions, particularly if the new justice is able to persuade others on the bench to join him. It also makes one wonder about the approach the president would take should he be required to nominate others to the high court during his time in office.

Nonetheless, evidence at this time suggests that liberty has taken a step forward.