Senate confirms Gorsuch to Supreme Court

The Senate has confirmed Neil Gorsuch to be Supreme Court justice.

Gorsuch will fill the seat vacated by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Gorsuch's confirmation will go down as one of the most controversial in the Court's history. Though Scalia died in Feb. 2016 and President Barack Obama nominated federal judge Merrick Garland the following month to replace him, Senate Replubicans refused to hold confirmation hearings.

Sen. Ted Cruz said that if Democrat Hillary Clinton were to be elected rather than Trump, the Senate might indefinitely block nominations to the court.

President Trump nominated Gorsuch less than two weeks after taking office. When Senate Democrats filibustered the nomination, Senate Republicans acted to change the Senate rules to disallow the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.

They confirmed Gorsuch the following day.

For more, read the Washington Post story.

Click here to see how each senator voted.

President nominates Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court

President Trump has nominated federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch now must be confirmed by the Senate.

Gorsuch, 49, has served on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver since 2006. He was appointed by President George W. Bush.

He earned degrees from Columbia University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University, and served as a law clerk to Justices Anthony Kennedy and Byron White.

Gorsuch has taken stands on several issues...

He has not ruled on or commented about abortion.

The Supreme Court seat was left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

Then-President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to replace Scalia, but Senate Republicans refused to give Garland a hearing.  

For more, read the Denver Post story.

Republicans may indefinitely block Supreme Court justices

Sen. Ted Cruz has said that Republicans could indefinitely prevent nominees to the Supreme Court from being confirmed.

The Senate already has refused to act on federal judge Merrick Garland - President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. The Supreme Court has been without a full team of nine justices since Scalia died in February.

If the Senate maintains its block on Garland, the next president - most likely Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump - will nominate a replacement for Scalia.

If Clinton wins the presidential election, a refusal to consider nominees could become more of an impact should any of the current eight justices resign from the court or die.

For more, read the Politico.com story.

President nominates Merrick Garland to Supreme Court

President Obama has nominated federal judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Merrick is a judge for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. He would replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February.

In order to become the country's 113th Supreme Court justice, Garland must be confirmed by the Senate.

Senate Republicans have said they will not consider any nominee to the Court since this is Obama's last year in office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called Garland to tell him that the Senate would not take action on his nomination, the New York Times reported.

For more, read the New York Times story.

To read more about Merrick Garland, read the profile of him at SCOTUSblog.com.

Senate Republicans say they'll refuse to consider new justices

Some of the more powerful Republicans in the Senate have said they would refuse to consider anyone President Obama nominates to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia's death.

Obama still has almost a year left in his term as president. In that time, the Supreme Court will be considering several cases that will affect Americans.

The Constitution gives the president the authority to appoint Supreme Court justices. Nominees must be approved by the Senate before becoming part of the court.

For more, read the New York Times story.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79.

He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

President Obama announced that he will nominate a justice to replace Scalia on the court. The nominee must be confirmed by the Senate.

For more, read the NY Times story.