Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s Supreme Court pick, draws approval from voters: Polls

Voters are generally supportive of Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s new nominee to the Supreme Court, with pluralities saying in two new polls that he should be confirmed.

A number of voters are still making up their minds, but of those that have, Judge Gorsuch is doing well. A Huffington Post/YouGov poll released Sunday found 40 percent approved of the judge’s nomination, while just 28 percent were opposed.

Meanwhile a CNN/ORC poll found 49 percent of Americans would like to see the Senate confirm Judge Gorsuch to the high court, while 36 percent said senators should reject him.

That suggests he’s on the same track as two other recent nominees, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., both of whom had similar approval ratings after they were picked by former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, respectively.

But Mr. Obama’s most recent nomination of Judge Merrick Garland saw a slightly higher favorability rating.

Fifty-two percent of people supported a vote in favor of Judge Garland, who did not receive a hearing or confirmation from the Republican-controlled Senate.

Democrats remain bitter over the GOP’s handling of that nomination, but a plurality of voters — 39 percent — say Democrats wouldn’t be justified in blocking Judge Gorsuch in retaliation, according to the HuffPost/YouGov survey.

“The ghost of Merrick Garland still floats around part of this place,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat. “I’m going to take a look at his nominee … but let’s make it clear: This is a different process now because of what they did last year.”

The CNN/ORC poll surveyed 1,002 Americans and has a plus or minus 3 percent margin of error.

The Huffington Post/YouGov poll sampled 1,000 people and has a 4.1 percent plus or minus margin of error.