And americans voted for a president based upon knowing that. If you look at the polls, for example, among white evangelical christians, Something Like 80 of them voted for donald trump because of the Supreme Court. It is a monumental occurrence that you are about to hear from the white house. Why is that . Because unfortunately, in our divided country, there are now four liberal justices and four either conservative or moderate traditional justices. It is a tie. The liberal Supreme Court justices believe it, and i am generalizing now, but this is, i dont think im going to be argued, that the constitution of the United States evolves with society. It is not the same as it was when Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and the Founding Fathers put it together. The conservatives believe that it should stay in its tradition. Here is President Trump. [applauding] President Trump thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. When justice clea passed away suddenly last february, i made a promise to the American People, if i were elected president , i would find the very best judge in the country for the Supreme Courts. I promised to select someone who respects our laws and is representative of our constitution and who loves our constitution and someone who will interpret them as written. This may be the most transparent judicial Selection Process in history. Months ago as a candidate, i publicly presented a list of brilliant and accomplished people to the american electorate and pledged to make my choice from among that list. Millions of voters said this was the single most important issue to them when they voted for me for president. I am a man of my word. I will do as i say. Something that the American People have been asking for from washington for a very, very long time. [applauding] thank you. Today, i am keeping another promise to the American People by nominating judge neil gorsuch of the United StatesSupreme Court to be of the United StatesSupreme Court and i would like to ask George Gorsuch and his wonderful wife, louise, to please step forward, please, louise, judge. Here they come. Here they come. [applauding] so, was not a surprise . Was it . [applauding] i have always felt that after the defense of our nation, the most important decision a president of the United States can make is the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. Depending on their age, a justice can be active for 50 years and his or her decisions can last a century or more and can often be permanent. I took the task of this nomination very seriously. I have selected an individual whose qualities define really, and i mean closely defined, what we are looking for. Judge gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline, and has earned bipartisan support. When he was nominated to the tenth Circuit Court of appeals, he was confirmed by the senate unanimously. Also, it is unanimous, can you believe that, nowadays, with what is going on . [applauding] does that happen anymore . Does it happen . I think it is going to happen, may be again. Also, with us tonight is maureen scalia, a woman loved by her husband and deeply respected by all. I am so happy she is with us. There she is. [applauding] thank you, marine. [applauding] thank you, maureen. She is really the ultimate representative of the late, great justice Antonin Scalia, whose image and genius was in my mind throughout the decisionmaking process. Not only are we looking at the writings of the nominee, and i studied them closely, but he is said to be among the finest and most brilliant, often times, the writings of any judge for a long, long time. And his academic credentials, something very important to me, that education has always been a priority, are as good as i have ever seen. He received his undergraduate degree from columbia with honors. He then received his law degree from harvard, also with honors. He was a truman scholar. After harvard, he received his doctorate at oxford, where he attended as a marshall scholar. One of the top academic honors anywhere in the world. After law school, he clerked on the Supreme Court for both justices by written white and Anthony Kennedy. It is an extraordinary resume. As good as it gets. Judge gorsuch was born and raised in colorado and was taught the value of independence, hardware, and public service. While in law school, he demonstrated a commitment to helping the less fortunate. He worked in both harvard prison Legal Assistance projects and harvard defenders programs. I studied every aspect of his life. He could have had any job at any law firm for any amount of money. But what he wanted to do with his career was to be a judge, to write decisions, and to make an impact by upholding our laws and our constitution. The qualifications of judge gorsuch are beyond dispute. He is the man of our country and a man who our country really needs and needs badly to ensure the rule of law and the rule of justice. I would like to think senate leadership. I only hope that both democrats and republicans can come together for once, for the good of the country. Congratulations to you and your family. May god bless you. May god bless our glorious nation. Judge gorsuch, the podium, sir, is yours. [applauding] thank you. Mr. President , thank you very much. Mr. President , mr. Vice president , you and your team have shown a great courtesy in this process. You have even trusted me with the most solemn assignment. Standing here in a house of history and acutely aware of my own imperfections, i pledge it if i am confirmed, i will do all of my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the constitutional laws of this great country. For the last decade, i have worked as a federal judge in a court that spans six western states, serving about 20 of the continental United States and about 18 million people. The men and women i have worked with at every level in our circuit are an inspiration to me. I have watched them fearlessly tending to the rule of law, and forcing the promises of our constitution, and living out daily there judicial, administering justice equally too rich and poor alike. Following the law as without respect to their personal political beliefs. I think of them tonight. Of course, the Supreme Courts work is vital to not only a region of the country, but to the hole. Vital to the production of the peoples liberties under law and to the constitution on. The greatest charter of human liberty the world has ever know known. The towering judges that have served in this particular seat of the Supreme Court, including Antonin Scalia and robert jackson, are much in my mind at this moment. Justice scalia was a lien of the law. Agree or disagree with him, all of his companies on the bench, share his wisdom and his humor. And like them, i miss him. I began my legal career working for byron white, the last colorado and to serve on the Supreme Court. The only justice to lead the nfl in rushing. [laughter] he was one of the smartest and most courageous men i have ever known. When Justice White retired, he gave me the chance to work for justice kennedy, as well. Justice kennedy was incredibly welcoming and gracious. Like Justice White, he taught me so much. I am forever grateful. If you have ever met judge david sentelle, you will know just how lucky i was to land a clerkship with him right out of school. Thank you. These judges brought me up in the law. Truly, i would not be here without them. Today is as much of their day as it is mine. In the balance of my professional life, i had the privilege of working as a practicing lawyer and teacher. I have enjoyed wonderful colleagues who supports means so much to me at this moment. As it has year in and year out. Practicing in the trial work, trenches of the law, i sought to that when we judges do on our robes, doesnt make us any smarter. But it does it serve as a reminder of what is expected of us. Impartiality and independence. Collegiality and courage. As this process now moves to the senate, i look forward with speaking to members with both sides of the aisle. To answering their questions and to hearing their concerns. I consider the United States senate to the greatest deliberative body in the world. And i respect the Important Role the constitution affords it in the confirmation of our judges. I respect the fact that in our legal order, it is for congress and not the courts to write new laws. It is the rule of judges to apply, not alter, the work of the peoples representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge. Stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands. I am so thankful tonight for my family, my friends, and by faith. These are the things that keeps me grounded. They sustain me. To louise, my incredible life and companion of 20 years, my cherished daughters, who are watching on tv, and all of my family and friends. I cannot thank you enough for your love and for your prayers. I could not attempt this without you. Mr. President , i am honored and i am humbled. Thank you very much. [applauding] [applauding] bill all right, a very to the point ceremony. I have a couple of thoughts. I dont know the judge. But i did have dinner with Justice Scalia and spent about an hour with him. From what i understand, judge gorsuch is very much in the same mindset as Antonin Scalia. That means this, and you heard him reference it, you heard judge gorsuch reference it. He believes he is not in the business of making law. All right . Some of the Supreme Court justices do believe that they have a right to improve the law. They would say, improve it, not just make it from scratch. Not judge gorsuch. So, he is going to basically take the laws that are passed by congress and then, rule whether they are constitutional or not because Congress Sometimes makes mistakes. Then, when there is an argument about how to apply the law, he is going to rule in a traditional way, not in a progressive way. That is what we were talking about before the president took the mike. This is very important for everybody to understand. The progressive wing of the court, some say liberal, believes of the constitution evolves and is applied to what is happening in society at that time. Example, abortion. The Founding Fathers would never, ever have put that into the constitution. Yet, the Supreme Court did. They legalized abortion. That is one difference. A good difference for you to understand the mindset. The conservative traditional wing, of which Anthony Kennedy, who gorsuch clerked under, is in, says, no, we are going to go back to the intent of the Founding Fathers and the people who forged the constitution that we all live under. That is their intent, that is what is most important, not the new evolution of society. So, judge gorsuch is in that category. He has two daughters when he is an episcopalian. He mentioned his faith. Episcopalian, very close to catholicism. It is just the pope that separates the two religions. Okay, so, donald trump, finally, then, i will get to our analysts, who are smarter than i am on this matter, did a very, very shrewd thing tonight. He put the Democratic Party in a tough spot. He said, this is a man that is beyond reproach. His career is beyond reproach. And he is a man who loves his country, who served his country, and who really deserves respect. The democrats who will attack georgia gorsuch, that will happen momentarily, are going to have to be careful not to disrespect him in their opposition. There will be opposition. Okay. The heavy odds are, unless there is something we dont know about the judge, believe me, he has been vetted every which way, that he will be on the Supreme Court. There will be a lot of political gamesmanship and back and forth in the senate and all of that. But if you were a betting person, it is 101 that he gets in. So, that is my say. Lets bring in bret baier. What i want you to explain to the audience right now, bret, it is that it is likely, the democrats in the senate, most of them, will oppose judge gorsuch because they want a liberal judge or somebody who favors a progressive wing. Right now, it is possible to filibuster in the senate the judges nomination. But if there is a new law that comes into effect, which is very possible, that filibuster goes away. Explain that to us. Right. As it stands now, democrats change the law, the way the senate operates, for cabinet nominees. It does not require 60 votes. They only need 51, 50 plus one, to get cabinet nominees through. That was a change done by the democrats and Senate Majority leader at the time harry reid back in 2013. What he didnt do is do the nuclear option, as they call it, for Supreme Court nominees. If it gets to the point where democrats are filibustering judge gorsuch, and Mitch Mcconnell decides that they are going to change the rules, they have the votes to do that. And they could employ the nuclear option, in other words, 60 votes would be, 51, even for Supreme Court nominees. Let me tell you bill there would be a vote on the rules. Im sorry, i misspoke. It wouldnt be a law. It will be a vote on the senate rules. The rules of the senate. Okay, all the republicans, all 53 of them, would say, yes, we want our change of the rules, that would knock at the filibuster. That is very, very likely to happen, correct . Here is what likely to happen. There will be an effort by the democrats to filibuster this nominee. Now, why is that . Does he have a great judicial background . Yes. Does he have qualifications . Yes. Why would they filibuster . Because he is 49 years old. He is conservative, in the mold of Justice Scalia. He writes exactly like him. And does this turned the court . Know. But how many cases were decided 54 . There were dozens of them in recent years. 54 decisions. Now, the courts 44. There are some huge cases that have just been through. There are huge cases on pause waiting for oral arguments to go forward. If there is another conservative judge on the bench now, they would almost certainly go the conservative way in these rulings. Democrats dont want to see that. They will do everything they can to stop it. But here is why they are going to have a problem. They have ten democrats up for reelection in states where trump won more than 60 of the counties in those states. Ten of them. They are going to feel a lot of pressure because there will be hundreds of millions of dollars spent in coming weeks, bill, and lobbying for and against judge gorsuch in these various states and those senate democrats, who are up for reelection, will feel the heat the most. Bill all right. But youve got to understand, and i know you do, the pressure the Democratic Party is going to be putting on these ten senators. They will get some democrats, joe manchin of west virginia, maybe mccaskill of missouri, maybe a few more. But i would be very surprised if they get enough to override the filibuster at 60 votes. Now, i want to know the time frame. Lets assume they dont get the 60 to override the filibuster and it continues. When can mcconnell say, we will change the rules, have the vote, then, bang, and a gorsuch is on the court . I think you would see that by march, by the end of march. Bill why so long . Why a month . They will go through these hearings and then, you are going to eventually get to the point where it is going to have to come out of committee to the senate floor and that is where you would have the votes and determine whether there is going to be a filibuster or not. That process bill when will the hearings start . Almost immediately. They will put the nomination officially up and we will see with the schedule holds but i am going to talk to senator mcconnell tonight for the 11 00 p. M. Show, special report. And senator grassley will be running the hearings tomorrow. I think they will move quickly to try to move these hearings forward. Bill all right, you figure a few days on the hearings. I mean, gorsuch has a pretty good resume. There is not a lot. They will grill him on the hobby lobby case, on the freedom of religion stuff. They will grill him on abortion, they will grill him on those kinds of things. But youve got to figure that it is a few days, its not a few weeks, or am i wrong . I think you might be a little shy, as far as how long it is going to take. Democrats are going to use every possible question to get into his past. They are going to spend a lot of time. They are going to ask for all kinds of paperwork and that will take, and the discovery process for the committee, will take some time. I wouldnt think that it is going to go super speedy. Remember, you are also going to come at the same time, have a lot of outside influence, on the process, a lot of money being spent. This is going to be like a campaign. This is going to be like knocking on doors. Bill tell me about the money being spent. What do you anticipate . Television ads . What do you anticipate . Everything. Emails. Just in the time that we