Neil Gorsuch

Quick facts

• Born: August 29, 1967, Denver, Colorado
• Role: Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2017–present)
• Confirmed: 54–45 on April 7, 2017, after the Senate’s “nuclear option” lowered the threshold to a simple majority
• Education: Georgetown Preparatory School; B.A., Columbia University; J.D., Harvard Law School; D.Phil., University of Oxford (2004, as a Marshall Scholar)
• Selected by: Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society — the first Trump justice chosen through that process
• Longtime patron: Billionaire Philip Anschutz (oil, gas, and real estate)

Key positions

Biography

Neil McGill Gorsuch grew up in an elite conservative political family. His mother, Anne Gorsuch Burford, served as Ronald Reagan’s EPA Administrator and resigned in 1983 amid scandal after refusing to turn Superfund documents over to Congress — the first cabinet-level official cited for contempt of Congress. Gorsuch attended Georgetown Preparatory School, two years behind future Justice Brett Kavanaugh, then earned degrees from Columbia, Harvard Law, and Oxford, where his doctoral work on the morality of assisted suicide was supervised by conservative legal philosopher John Finnis.

His path to the Supreme Court ran through a stolen seat. After Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold hearings on President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, whose nomination expired after 293 days — the longest unconsidered nomination on record. Trump nominated Gorsuch 28 days later, on January 31, 2017, drawing from a list pre-approved by the Federalist Society. Leonard Leo, who has been described as serving in effect as Trump’s subcontractor on the selection, personally contacted Gorsuch about the nomination, took leave from the Federalist Society to help prepare him for the hearings, and a Leo-affiliated communications firm (now known as CRC Advisors) coordinated a months-long media campaign supporting the confirmation. When Democrats filibustered, McConnell invoked the “nuclear option,” eliminating the 60-vote threshold; Gorsuch was confirmed 54–45 on April 7, 2017.

Gorsuch’s career has been entwined with billionaire Philip Anschutz, whose business interests he represented for a decade in private practice (1995–2005). Anschutz lobbied the Bush administration to secure Gorsuch’s 2006 appointment to the 10th Circuit, and the relationship continued on the bench: Gorsuch accepted repeat speaking engagements at Anschutz’s private retreat and, while a federal appellate judge, co-owned both an LLC and a 40-acre Colorado property with two of Anschutz’s top lieutenants for more than a decade. In December 2024, after Democratic lawmakers raised ethics concerns, Gorsuch recused himself from Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County — a case in which Anschutz’s oil and gas company had filed a brief.

On the Court, Gorsuch has pursued a consistent anti-regulatory and pro-corporate record under the banner of originalism and textualism. His best-known appellate opinion was a lone dissent in the “frozen trucker” case (TransAm Trucking), where he argued that a driver fired after abandoning a frozen trailer in subzero weather to avoid hypothermia had not been wrongfully terminated — reasoning Senator Al Franken called “absurd” during the confirmation hearings. His years-long campaign against Chevron deference, the doctrine requiring courts to defer to agency expertise on ambiguous statutes, culminated in the 6–3 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (June 2024), which overturned Chevron and significantly narrowed federal regulatory authority.

Sources

1. “Neil Gorsuch | Biography & Facts” — Britannica — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neil-Gorsuch
2. “Anne Gorsuch Burford, 62, Dies; Reagan EPA Director” — Washington Post — https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3418-2004Jul21.html
3. “How One Man Brought Justices Roberts, Alito And Gorsuch To The Supreme Court” — NPR — April 12, 2017 — https://www.npr.org/2017/04/12/523495201/how-one-man-brought-justices-roberts-alito-and-gorsuch-to-the-supreme-court
4. “Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court Seat Was Stolen by Republicans” — TIME — January 18, 2017 — https://time.com/4656196/scotus-neil-gorsuch-geoffrey-stone/
5. “Justice Gorsuch recuses himself from key environmental case with ties to longtime ally” — CNN Politics — December 4, 2024 — https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/04/politics/gorsuch-anschutz-eagle-county-supreme-court/index.html
6. “Senate Pulls Nuclear Trigger To Ease Gorsuch Confirmation” — NPR — April 6, 2017 — https://www.npr.org/2017/04/06/522847700/senate-pulls-nuclear-trigger-to-ease-gorsuch-confirmation