WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch to become the newest associate justice on the Supreme Court on Friday, elevating Donald Trump's nominee.
Vice President Mike Pence was presiding as the Senate voted 54-45 in favor of Gorsuch, a 49-year-old veteran of the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver whose conservative rulings make him an intellectual heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat he will fill.
Gorsuch won support from 51 of the chambers' Republicans as well as three moderate Democrats up for re-election in states Trump won last fall: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who has been recovering from back surgery, did not vote.
The outcome was a major win for Trump, as well as for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who kept Scalia's seat open after the justice's death in February 2016. McConnell refused to hold hearings for President Barack Obama's nominee Merrick Garland, a move that angered Democrats but that Republicans now hail as a political master stroke.
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said Gorsuch will be a "fine addition" to the Supreme Court.
“Judge Gorsuch is now Justice Gorsuch, and I’m glad to see such a distinguished jurist raised to the highest court in the land," he said.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge praised the confirmation in a statement released shortly after the vote.
"Individuals on both the right and left have praised Judge Gorsuch, and it was made clear during his confirmation hearings that he would be a superb jurist who respects the rule of law and immensely values and understands that the judiciary must be independent," she said.
He is expected to be sworn in Monday, in time to hear the final cases of the term. He was nominated by Trump shortly after the January inauguration.
Republicans exulted in the victory.
"This is a person of extraordinary credentials who will bring honor to the Supreme Court for many, many years to come. So it is indeed a proud day," McConnell said. He told reporters that he views his refusal to fill Scalia's seat, which was initially questioned by some fellow Republicans, as "the most consequential decision I've ever been involved in."
For many conservatives, Trump's choice of Gorsuch made up for any number of other weaknesses in his candidacy and his administration. Gorsuch was on a list of potential justices recommended by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation during the campaign, and some Republicans even credit the Supreme Court vacancy as one reason Trump won the November election. In exit polls, 21 percent of voters called Supreme Court appointments "the most important factor" to their vote, and among those people 56 percent voted for Trump.
Democrats denounced the GOP's use of what both sides dubbed the "nuclear option" to put Gorsuch on the court, calling it an epic power grab that would further corrode politics in Congress, the courts and the United States. Many Republicans bemoaned reaching that point, too, but they blamed Democrats for pushing them to it.
In a statement after the vote, Arkansas' other Republican senator, John Boozman, said: "It is a shame that my Democrat colleagues forced the Senate to abandon our longstanding tradition by leading a partisan filibuster against a Supreme Court nominee for the first time ever, especially when considering a nominee that is as eminently qualified to serve as Judge Gorsuch."
Gorsuch's confirmation Friday was preceded by a Senate floor showdown Thursday in which Democrats initially mounted a filibuster, denying Gorsuch the 60 votes needed to proceed. Republicans then acted unilaterally to lower the vote threshold on Supreme Court filibusters from 60 to a simple majority in the 100-member Senate.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.