Today marks the 51st birthday of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch.
There’s little doubt he’ll be celebrating with his colleagues as he recently revealed that the Justices “frequently have lunch together, enjoy telling each other jokes” and “sing each other Happy Birthday.”
But we’d like to take a moment of our own on this special day to run down a list of our favorite things about President Trump’s first nomination to the highest court in the land.
1) He’s not Merrick Garland
Oh, that’s really going to burn the libs.
Gorsuch was nominated to the Supreme Court under unusual circumstances, filling a seat that had been vacated following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia passed late into Barack Obama’s final term in office.
The former President tried to thwart precedent in a presidential election year and quickly nominated Garland to replace Scalia, but Republicans held firm and refused to schedule a vote, paving the way for Gorsuch to get the nod.
2) He’s Considered Very Similar to Scalia
Five Thirty Eight, upon analyzing the Gorsuch nomination, labeled him a “Scalia clone.”
NPR has described Scalia as a “strong voice of conservative jurisprudence on the nation’s highest court for 30 years.”
Not a terrible person to be cloned after.
10 weeks into his tenure on the court, Five Thirty Eight evolved on their opinion, citing his short record at the time, and said Gorsuch actually “may settle to the right of Scalia.”
Even better.
3) Republicans Used Democrats’ Own Rules Against Them to Confirm Gorsuch
Pouring more salt into the wounds of the Merrick Garland and Obama supporters, Republicans actually used the Democrats’ own rule change to confirm Gorsuch.
In 2013, Senate Democrats, led by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, dramatically reduced the power of the minority party by eliminating the filibuster for most nominations by a president.
As such, federal judicial nominees and executive-office appointments would advance for confirmation votes via a simple majority, rather than a 60-vote supermajority that had been in place for forty years.
Gorsuch was confirmed by a vote of 54 to 45.
President Trump actually predicted the bold move by the Democrats would come back to haunt them one day.
“Since the Democrats decided to kill the filibuster, they now own it,” he said before presciently adding, “Republicans should keep the new rule when they’re in the majority.”
4) His Mom Was the First Female EPA Administrator
Anne Gorsuch served as the first female EPA administrator in the Reagan administration, where she spent her nearly two years at the helm slashing regulations and reducing the budget.
Like any legislator trying to reduce onerous government bureaucracy, Ms. Gorsuch was accused of trying to dismantle the agency.
5) Gorsuch is an Avid Outdoorsman
Trump’s Supreme Court selection is an avid skier, fly-fisherman, and hiker.
Following his hearing and the previous year’s term, Gorsuch told an audience that he did something he hadn’t done for years – took the summer off, returning to his home state of Colorado where he hiked, biked, and even grew a beard.
6) Gorsuch Hates Wedding Cakes – No Matter Their Orientation
This past June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a custom cake for a same-sex couple because he believed that doing so violated his religious beliefs.
“The place of secular officials isn’t to sit in judgment of religious beliefs, but only to protect their free exercise,” Gorsuch wrote. “Just as it is the ‘proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence’ that we protect speech that we hate, it must be the proudest boast of our free exercise jurisprudence that we protect religious beliefs that we find offensive.”
Even better, he dropped this little tidbit – he hates heterosexual wedding cakes too.
“In fact, I have yet to have a wedding cake that I would say tastes great,” he opined.
7) His Rulings Rule!
In his short tenure on the Supreme Court, Gorsuch has taken part in several critical votes that were decided by 5-4 margins.
Two of the more prominent of those rulings involved upholding the President’s travel ban and a case involving public employees being forced to pay dues that fund the work of public sector unions.
Had Hillary filled Scalia’s seat, or Garland was voted on by Republicans, those cases would easily have swung the opposite way.
8) Cool Resume, Bro
Gorsuch served as a law clerk for former Supreme Court Justice Byron White and he assisted the recently retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who incidentally has now given President Trump a second pick for the Court in Brett Kavanaugh.
9) He Loves Winston Churchill Quotes
“When Neil came to our firm in 1995, he had gray hair,” a law partner told the Washington Post. “In fact, he was born with silver hair, as well as an inexhaustible store of Winston Churchill quotes.”
President Trump is also a fan of the great British leader.
10) He’s a Youngin’
Gorsuch, who was 49 at the time of his nomination, was the youngest nominee since Clarence Thomas, who was 43 when confirmed in 1991.
Having just turned 51, this means a possible and probable three decades of a conservative voice on the Supreme Court.
Perhaps by the time he is set to retire, President Barron Trump will be in the White House, ready to select his replacement.
