Harvard Law Graduate Gorsuch Confirmed to Supreme Court

Neil M. Gorsuch became the 113th justice of the United States Supreme Court after the Senate confirmed him Friday, joining five other Harvard Law School attendees on the nation’s highest legal body.

Gorsuch, who graduated from the Law School in 1991, was confirmed by a vote of 54-45 after weeks of tension in the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch to the Court in late January, and his Senate confirmation hearings began in March.

Last week, Senate Democrats filibustered Gorsuch’s confirmation, aiming to block the vote by denying him the 60 votes necessary to move forward to a confirmation vote. Senate Republicans, invoking the so-called “nuclear option,” then changed their voting rules to require only a simple majority to break the filibuster.

Harvard Law School's library. By Grace Z. Li

The justice’s nomination came a year after his predecessor Antonin G. Scalia died in February 2016, leaving a vacancy on the Court. Former president Barack Obama nominated Merrick B. Garland ’74—a Harvard College and Law School graduate—to the Court last year, but Senate Republicans refused to hold confirmation hearings, arguing the next president should select the justice to replace Scalia.

Gorsuch, widely known as a conservative respected across the aisle, is expected to maintain a similar judicial philosophy to Scalia, who advocated a strict reading of the U.S. Constitution.

Gorsuch’s views on controversial issues the court is likely to hear cases on, such as abortion, are unclear, and his Senate hearings did little to clarify his stance. However, he is expected to take a traditionally conservative stance on most issues.

After Trump attacked a federal judge for blocking one of his controversial immigration executive orders last month, Gorsuch condemned Trump’s accusations, which some signaled the justice’s independence from the Trump administration.

—Staff writer Jamie D. Halper can be reached at jamie.halper@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @JamieDHalper.