Neil Gorsuch was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 11-9 committee vote was along party lines. A full Senate vote is expected by Friday, with many Democrats promising to filibuster.
As the current court's youngest justice at age 49, Mr. Gorsuch would influence numerous issues before the Supreme Court for years to come. Some of his legal opinions written in the past 10 years as a judge in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver have won him backing by business groups.
One opinion cited several times during the Senate committee hearing was his 2016 concurring opinion that it was time to revisit Supreme Court deference to federal agencies when interpreting ambiguous statutes, known as Chevron deference. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said during the committee’s executive session that Mr. Gorsuch’s “approach to the law would be titanic. It would put countless rules in jeopardy (and) create widespread uncertainty.”
In other rulings, Mr. Gorsuch has written it is too easy for investors to bring securities fraud claims.
