Senate confirms Gorsuch to high court

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP with Neil Gorsuch and wife as the nomination is announced in January (Wikipedia).

The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court Friday morning. The vote was 54-45, with 51 Republicans joined by three Democrats. One Republican senator did not vote.

When sworn in, the appointee of President Donald Trump is expected to restore the 5-4 conservative majority on the nation’s highest court that existed before the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. The seat has been open since then, as the Republican majority in the Senate refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for that spot.

The confirmation of Gorsuch comes after the Senate voted to lower the threshold on ending filibusters in the case of Supreme Court nominees from 60 to 51, allowing Republicans to overcome Democratic efforts to stall the appointment of Gorsuch.