Neil Gorsuch becomes 113th US Supreme Court justice

Washington, April 10
US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as 113th justice of the Supreme Court on Monday.

The Senate confirmed his nomination 54-45 on Friday, after a fierce fight from Democrats.

Gorsuch fills the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia and will bring the apex court back to its full strength of nine seats, USA Today reported.

Gorsuch took his judicial oath behind closed doors at the Supreme Court building. His wife, Marie Louise Gorsuch, held the family bible as her husband was administered the oath of office during a roughly 10-minute-long ceremony.

Also present were Gorsuch's two daughters, Justice Scalia's widow, all of the justices and their spouses, with the exception of Justice Stephen Breyer, said the report.

A public ceremony will be held at the White House later in the day and Gorsuch will take his constitutional oath as a federal employee from Justice Anthony Kennedy, the longest-serving current justice.

Trump and all of the justices are expected to be at the White House for the second ceremony.

Gorsuch, 49, is a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, said a report in ABC News.

He was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2006 and confirmed by the Senate in a voice vote.

He clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and then for Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

Gorsuch attended Harvard Law and has a Ph.D. from Oxford.

"This is a person of extraordinary credentials who will bring honour to the Supreme Court for many, many years to come," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.