Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is doing the media rounds to promote his new book, “A Republic, If You Can Keep It,” which will be released tomorrow.

It also means that we are getting to hear from Justice Gorsuch himself about the experience of being nominated for the Supreme Court.
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In an interview with Fox News’ Shannon Bream, Justice Gorsuch talks about his perspective on originalism – and he credits his introduction to the line of judicial thought to the late Justice Scalia.

“I tell my law clerks I have two rules — only two rules — if you follow them, you’re going to be just fine,” he said. “Rule number one: Don’t make it up — follow the law. Rule number two: when everybody else around you is yelling at you, asking you to make it up and condemning you for not making it up, refer to rule number one.”

Gorsuch, an originalist, has embraced a judicial philosophy that limits Constitutional rights to those outlined during the nation’s founding and insists that additions to the document should come through the consent of the American people.”

“Originalism says the rights of the Constitution that were given in 1789 are the rights you enjoy today and they can never be taken — and if you want to add to them, we the people add to them,” Gorsuch told Bream.”

There are two big treats in the Fox News special. First, Justice Gorsuch takes the cameras back to his chambers, which includes the story of Leroy the elk. Second, Louise Gorsuch is an absolute delight in her interview. She is completely relatable and unpretentious. Neither Justice Gorsuch or Louise Gorsuch come off as Washington elites (and frankly, I think they would rather be back in Colorado most of the time), and it is very refreshing.

However, other media outlets are not nearly so friendly as Shannon Bream. The AP was quite disappointed that Justice Gorsuch refused to comment about President Trump.

But Gorsuch had little to say about President Donald Trump, who appointed him to the Supreme Court and who routinely brands his opponents dopes, losers, liars and worse.”

“If you’re asking me about politics, I’m not going to touch that,” Gorsuch said.”

All Gorsuch would say about Trump is that during the nomination process in 2017, the president “was very gracious to my family.”

He also declined to comment on how the confirmation process for Supreme Court justices has gotten so contentious in interviews with other media. When one looks back on Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing, it almost seems simple and quaint.

We can almost forget that the “nuclear option” had to be exercised in order to confirm Neil Gorsuch, especially given the absolute shitshow that followed during Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. While Justice Gorsuch talks around it, it is clear that neither he nor the other justices have forgotten what happened just a year ago – and that it’s likely that they are all dreading what will happen the next time an open seat needs to be filled.

Still, Justice Gorsuch’s book looks to be an intriguing read, as is the glimpse into the life and judicial philosophy of this most interesting Supreme Court justice. You can look for a VG Bookshelf post, reviewing “A Republic, If You Can Keep It,” in the near future.

Featured image: Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, official portrait by Franz Jantzen, 2017, public domain