WASHINGTON D.C. – Presenting a nominee that the administration calls a “judge’s judge” who “decides cases based on the law, not personal policy preferences”, President Trump on Tuesday announced Neil M. Gorsuch as his choice to fill a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States.

News media called it “Trump’s biggest moment yet in his 11 days in office”, and a “sweet moment of vindication for the Republican Party.”

“Neil M. Gorsuch has served for over a decade as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, building a nationally respected and distinguished judicial record and reputation,” read a statement from the Office of the Press Secretary. “Judge Gorsuch is a brilliant jurist with an outstanding intellect and a clear, incisive writing style. He is universally respected for his integrity, fairness, and decency. And he understands the role of judges is to interpret the law, not impose their own policy preferences, priorities, or ideologies.”

Trump noted how Judge Gorsuch was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 2006 by the U.S. Senate without opposition. If confirmed, Gorsuch will fill the seat vacated by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

“Echoing a common theme of Justice Scalia’s jurisprudence,” the White House wrote, “Judge Gorsuch once wrote that ‘a judge who likes every result he reaches is very likely a bad judge, reaching for results he prefers rather than those the law compels.'”

Hawaii’s two Democratic Senators voiced their concerns after the announcement.

“Supreme Court nominees should be held to the highest standards, because the Court has the final word on rights that are fundamental to the lives of Americans: our right to privacy, reproductive rights, the right to vote, and equal justice under the law,” stated U.S. Senator Brian Schatz. “I am disappointed the President has nominated someone who does not appear committed to ensuring these rights and who is outside of the legal mainstream. Judge Gorsuch was picked from a list provided to President Trump when he was a candidate. This list was curated by the Heritage Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing a radical agenda of the diminishment of individual and civil rights.”

“Judge Gorsuch has consistently ruled in favor of corporations over individuals, has undermined women’s rights, and has failed to protect workers from discrimination,” Schatz continued. “I will continue to study his record, and I will pay close attention to his hearing. But this was a missed opportunity to select a mainstream judge who could have garnered bipartisan support.”

“In his first two weeks as President, Donald Trump has demonstrated minimal tolerance for independent thinking and dissent,” said U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono. “I am deeply concerned that his choice for the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, will be a rubber stamp for the President’s radical agenda. We owe it to the American people to vet this nominee extensively and exhaustively. In the weeks and months ahead, I will carefully scrutinize Judge Gorsuch’s judicial philosophy, his views on a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, his position on voting rights, and his thoughts on the balance between individual rights and corporate power, among other subjects.”