Obama’s Solicitor General: Neil Gorsuch ‘Thoughtful and Brilliant’

Neal Katyal, who served under President Barack Obama as acting Solicitor General of the United States, praised President Donald Trump’s selection of Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court formerly held by Justice Antonin Scalia.

Katyal was Deputy Solicitor General under Obama, and served as acting Solicitor General for roughly a year in 2010 and 2011, representing the Obama administration before the Supreme Court. He is now a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan Lovells, and said in a statement:

Judge Gorsuch is one of the most thoughtful and brilliant judges to have served our nation over the last century. As a judge, he has always put aside his personal views to serve the rule of law. To boot, as those of us who have worked with him can attest, he is a wonderfully decent and humane person. I strongly support his nomination to the Supreme Court.

Others shared Katyal’s sentiments. Heritage Action CEO Michael A. Needham praised Gorsuch, saying that President Trump had fulfilled his election promise by selecting him:

Judge Neil Gorsuch is a nominee ‘very much in the mold’ of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. President Trump deserves credit for fulfilling his campaign pledge by nominating an individual who will, based on his record, interpret the text of the Constitution rather than create unwritten rights supposedly hidden between the lines. The usurpations of the rule of law, substituting for the will of the people as embodied in democratically enacted legislation rights nowhere to be found in our Constitution itself, only serves to divide our nation. Judge Gorsuch is an outstanding choice, and now the Senate must prepare to carry out its “Advise and Consent” role as it has for the past 227 years.

Democrats were slower to respond, as they attempted to absorb the choice of a judge widely praised for his intellect and experience.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) had not reacted to the choice, half an hour after it was made. Neither had Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL).
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.