From FoxNews.com:

Gorsuch sworn in as Supreme Court justice ahead of key cases

Justice Neil Gorsuch, vowing to be a “faithful servant” to the Constitution, was sworn in Monday to the Supreme Court, capping a grueling confirmation process and filling the seat once held by the late Antonin Scalia. 

The latest addition to the court was sworn in at a public ceremony in the Rose Garden. Justice Anthony Kennedy – Gorsuch’s former boss – administered the Judicial Oath, the second of two Gorsuch took.

“To the American people, I am humbled by the trust placed in me today,” Gorsuch said after taking the oath. “I will never forget to whom much is given to much will be expected, and I promise you that I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution and laws of this great nation.”

At the ceremony, President Trump called Gorsuch a man of “unmatched qualification” and “deeply devoted” to the Constitution.

“I have no doubt you will rise to the occasion, and the decisions you make will protect our Constitution today and for many generations of Americans to come,” he said.

The second of my two primary Trump Voting Factors has occurred. Antonin Scalia’s position on the US Supreme Court has been filled with a Scalia-like jurist.

The WashingtonPost.com writes:

Gorsuch will be put to work immediately. The court meets privately Thursday to consider cases for the next term. On the list is a plea that the court decide whether the Second Amendment grants a right to carry firearms outside the home. Another case asks whether businesses may refuse to provide wedding services to same-sex couples.

Next week, the court begins its last round of oral arguments for the term. Gorsuch, who in the past has defended the rights of religious objectors to laws they say violate their beliefs, could be the deciding vote in a major “separation of church and state” case from Missouri.

The timing is perfect and, for once, I have to tip my hat to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He persevered in terms of enacting the so-called “Joe Biden Rule” and held his mud against the firestorm that resulted from the Demorats. Let us review the rule:

McConnell took serious heat but kept on track. Further, he displayed spine in terms of activating the nuclear option in the face of the Demorat filibuster.

It is possible the court may reveal that it is deadlocked on several cases it has heard this term. The court, with four liberals nominated by Democratic presidents and four mostly conservative justices picked by Republicans, would schedule rehearings in those cases so Gorsuch could break the ties.

Moreover, one of the most important cases for the GOP and conservatives is just around the corner.

And in a matter of weeks, the court might be called upon to get involved in Trump’s second travel ban targeting refugees and people entering the United States from certain countries.

In some ways, Gorsuch is the prototypical justice. He is the 109th man among the 113 justices in the court’s history. All but two of the men were white. He is a favorite of the conservative legal establishment and has family roots in Republican politics.

Like five of his colleagues, Gorsuch attended Harvard Law School; the others went to Yale. He was hired as a Supreme Court clerk by fellow Coloradan Justice Byron White. Because White had retired by then, Gorsuch was loaned to Kennedy for the 1993-94 term.

He becomes the first former clerk to serve on the court alongside his boss.

GOP 1, Demorats and Leftists, 0.

BZ