Gorsuch submits questionnaire for Supreme Court nomination

Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, on Saturday submitted his questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee in preparation for the confirmation process.

Trump last month nominated Gorsuch, currently a judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, to fill the vacant seat left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

The questionnaire includes details of Gorsuch’s legal career and lists speeches Gorsuch has given, as well as his published writings and events he has attended while serving in the Justice Department.

Gorsuch says he volunteered on the campaigns for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. He also took part in a group called “Lawyers for Bush-Cheney,” though he said he has not written memoranda about policy or laws on behalf of a president-elect’s team.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Saturday said he looks forward to reviewing Gorsuch’s questionnaire.

“I appreciate Judge Gorsuch working diligently to return his questionnaire in a timely fashion. He’s gone to great lengths to produce the material requested by the Judiciary Committee,” Grassley said in a statement, as reported by ABC News. 

“Much of Judge Gorsuch’s extensive body of judicial and academic work is already publicly available, including the roughly 2700 cases he has participated in.”

Gorsuch likely faces a difficult confirmation hearing in the Senate, as Democrats are still reeling from Republicans’ decision not to give former President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland a hearing or vote last year.

Since his nomination, Gorsuch has visited Capitol Hill to meet with senators.

Earlier this week, controversy erupted when Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said that Gorsuch told him Trump’s attack on a federal judge who temporarily blocked his travel ban was “disheartening” and “demoralizing.”

Trump insisted Blumenthal was mischaracterizing Gorsuch’s words, though a Gorsuch spokesman confirmed them.

Updated: 2:12 p.m.