Judge Neil Gorsuch (L) speaks to the crowd as his wife Louise (R) looks on after U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd L) nominated him to the Supreme Court during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House January 31, 2017 (Getty Images)

Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing now belongs to Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Donald “ratings machine” Trump, pulled out all the stops in announcing his Supreme Court nomination, making the announcement in a prime-time event at the White House after bringing both Gorsuch and his other top finalist, Judge Thomas Hardiman, to Washington today.

“I made a promise to the American people, if I were elected president, I would find the very best judge in the country,” Trump said before announcing his pick.

Slate recently described Gorsuch as “a conservative with the libertarian instincts of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and the smooth temperament of Chief Justice John Roberts. He is known for defending gun rights and frequently siding with law enforcement, according to the New York Times.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this nomination,” Gorsuch said in accepting the nomination. The 49-year-old currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, in Denver. “I look forward to meeting with Senators over the coming weeks as we begin this process.”

A third jurist, William Pryor, was reportedly also under consideration, but even some Republicans recognized that it would be a difficult fight to confirm such an extremist.

While some Democrats, seething over Republican obstruction of Garland’s nomination, pledged to fight whomever the nominee, it’s very possible that Gorsuch will be confirmed without a major fight, according to CNN:

A number of Democrats are trying to persuade liberal firebrands to essentially let Republicans confirm Trump’s pick after a vigorous confirmation process—since Trump is likely to name a conservative to replace the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

The reason for the tactic: Republicans are considering gutting the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees if Democrats stay largely united and block Trump’s first pick. By employing the so-called “nuclear option,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could move to reduce the threshold for clearing a filibuster from 60 votes to 51 votes.
That would mean Democrats could lose leverage in the next Supreme Court fight if Trump were to replace a more liberal justice, since the GOP now has 52 seats in the Senate.

And here’s the DNC statement:

According to Reuters, Gorsuch is the youngest nominee to the Supreme Court in more than a quarter century. He is the son of Anne Gorsuch Burford, who served under President Reagan as the first female head of the EPA. Burford, who died in 2004, “resigned under fire in 1983 during a scandal over mismanagement of a $1.6 billion program to clean up hazardous waste dumps,” according to the Washington Post.

Many conservatives celebrated Gorsuch’s nomination on Twitter, including possible Zodiac killer Ted Cruz, ESPN reporter Britt McHenry, Vice President Mike Pence, and whoever makes social media memes for the NRA:

Leading liberals (and liberal orgs)—including Nancy Pelosi, the Sierra Club, and the Center for American Progress—warned that Gorsuch would be hostile to women’s reproductive rights and environmental protections, and that he would make it more difficult to hold police accountable for abuse: