GORSUCH REPLACES SCALIA; BALANCES SCOTUS (CONGRATS)

GORSUCH REPLACES SCALIA; BALANCES SCOTUS:

FULL CONSERVATIVE POWER RETURNS TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION.

CONGRATS


Sources: Los Angeles Times, The White House, YouTube


***** Gorsuch thanks Trump as he takes oath as Supreme Court justice


Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch went to the White House on Monday to take a second oath and to publicly thank President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, the lawyers in the White House counsel’s office, and Republican Senate leaders for helping put him on the nation’s highest court.

“This process has reminded me of how outrageously blessed I am,” Gorsuch said in the Rose Garden ceremony.

There has been some controversy in the past decade over whether it was appropriate for a newly confirmed justice to be sworn in at the White House. Retired Justice John Paul Stevens said such ceremonies give the appearance the new justice is going to the court as the president’s appointee rather than an independent justice.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan took their oaths at the Supreme Court and did not go the White House for a public ceremony. When they had a ceremonial investiture in the courtroom, President Obama attended. But in prior decades, the newly confirmed justices routinely went to the White House to take the oath alongside the president.

Rose Garden ceremony, the president said he was proud and pleased to have chosen an outstanding jurist to replace to the late Justice Antonin Scalia. “I got it done in the first 100 days!” he said.

“This is a very, very special moment,” Trump told Gorsuch as he was about take the oath. “I have no doubt you will go down as one of the truly great justices in the history of the United States Supreme Court.”

Gorsuch won his seat after an unusually partisan battle. Senate Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), refused to consider Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee, and they were forced to change the filibuster rule to confirm Trump's nominee after Democrats sought to block a vote on Gorsuch.

Earlier Monday morning, Gorsuch took the constitutional oath in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court. He then went to the White House to take a second “judicial oath” in a public ceremony.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts and the other seven associate justices were in attendance at the Rose Garden ceremony, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy administered the oath to Gorsuch, who served as his law clerk in the 1993-94 term.

Gorsuch will soon be hearing and deciding cases involving the Trump administration, including possibly whether to uphold the president’s temporary travel ban on people from six majority-Muslim nations. Two federal judges decided to put the ban on hold, and lawyers for the administration are appealing.

Trump used the ceremony to tout the changes he has brought to Washington. “We are in a process of reviewing and renewing, and also rebuilding, our country. A new optimism is sweeping across our land, and a new faith in America is filling our hearts and lifting our sights,” he declared.

The president also praised Justice Kennedy as “a man of outstanding accomplishment. Throughout his nearly 30 years on the Supreme Court, [he] has been praised by all for his dedicated and dignified service. We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude, and I am honored that he is with us today.”

Kennedy, 80, is now the longest serving justice. And though a Republican appointee, he has been somewhat of a disappointment to conservatives. Last year, he joined with the court’s liberals to strike strict abortion clinic regulations from Texas, and the year before, he wrote the landmark decision making same-sex marriage a constitutional right.

If Kennedy were to retire in the next few years, it would give the president and Senate Republicans the opportunity to give conservatives firm control of the court. As if to reassure Kennedy, Trump’s lawyers have mentioned several of his former law clerks as strong candidates for the next Supreme Court nomination.

Scott Brown Is Sworn In, Takes Over Kennedy's Senate Office

Scott Brown Sworn In As New Senator From Massachusetts


Republican Scott Brown was sworn in Thursday as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts to fill the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

His Senate colleagues applauded after the ceremony on the floor of the Senate chamber conducted by Vice President Joe Biden, in his capacity as president of the Senate. Democratic Sen. John Kerry, also of Massachusetts, accompanied Brown into the chamber.

"It's time to do my job," Brown told reporters earlier in the day when he arrived on Capitol Hill.

Brown indicated his top priorities will be job growth and deficit reduction. He said that while he has "great respect" for Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, it's "a new era."

Brown's win in a January 19 special election stripped Democrats of their 60-seat Senate supermajority and raised fears among many congressional Democrats of a potential GOP landslide in November's midterm elections.

Thursday's ceremony occurred a week earlier than originally planned.

Massachusetts officials had said it would take a few weeks after the election to certify the result of Brown's victory. In a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Secretary of State William Galvin on Wednesday, Brown's attorney said the senator-elect had planned on being sworn in on February 11, but had been told that several Senate votes would be held before then.

"For this reason, he wants certification to occur immediately," attorney Daniel Winslow wrote.

The certification occurred Thursday, allowing Brown to officially fill his seat later in the day.

Brown will be taking over Kennedy's coveted office space in the Senate Russell building. Sen. Paul Kirk, who has held the seat since his appointment after Kennedy's death, currently occupies the office and will move out.

Several Senate sources tell CNN that the Senate Rules Committee, which assigns office space, decided to give Brown the office space as a matter of convenience.

Because of his seniority, Kennedy had one of the most coveted office suites in the Senate complex. It is located in the Russell building, down the hall from the Rotunda, and has balconies that overlook the Capitol.


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Sources: CNN, Google Maps

Bloomberg's 3rd Term Pledges: Listen, Lead, Volunteer, Shake Up Bureaucracy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Mayor Bloomberg Sworn In For Third Term Of Office At City Hall In New York

Promising to "listen and lead," Mayor Bloomberg on Friday took the oath of office for his third term, alongside two new citywide leaders who promised to challenge him.

"This term is a special opportunity, one that comes with extraordinary responsibilities," said Bloomberg, 67, who upended city law and spent more than $102 million to win office again.

Twelve hours and 53 minutes after his second term ended at midnight, the mayor raised his right hand as his daughters, Emma and Georgina, held a 100-year-old family Bible.

He was sworn in by state Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman.

Bloomberg was the third official to take the oath on the City Hall steps after John Liu, a two-term Queens councilman who became the new City Controller, and Bill de Blasio, who became the new public advocate after eight years as a Brooklyn councilman.

Liu, the first Asian-American ever to be sworn in for a citywide office, received a standing ovation after taking his oath with a wild grin of victory. He was surrounded by his wife, his 8-year-old son Joey and his parents, Jamy and Joseph, who brought Liu and his brothers to Queens as young boys from their native Taiwan.

In a seven-minute speech, he cast his historic election with last year's inauguration of Preident Obama and appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

"These are the groundbreaking milestones for a country built by immigrants, prospering from labor, and empowered by its people," Liu said. "I am humbled to be a part of this wave of change."

At the conclusion of his speech, he thanked his parents and boasted that he "proudly" wears the lable "made in Taiwan."

Both de Blasio and Liu have promised to be aggressive watchdogs of Bloomberg and his policies - and both are widely seen as possible contenders to run for mayor in 2013.

That could create more tension for the mayor's agenda than in the past - especially since a newly restive City Council, seeing weakness in Bloomberg's 4.4-point victory margin, may seek to pounce.

De Blasio, standing with his wife Chirlane and children Chiara and Dante, was sworn in by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan and Brooklyn).

He used his inaugural speech to implicitly challenge Bloomberg to make the city more affordable for the middle class, show more compassion to the homeless and listen to angry parents of public school students.





"I commend the Mayor for his dedication to improving our education system," de Blasio said in a seven-minute speech. "But I am convinced we can continue to do better if we involve the parents of this city more fully."

In a nod to parent frustration that school changes under Bloomberg have been implemented over their objections, he added that "we must welcome \[parent\] voices in the schools that define their children's possibilities:

Liu offered a congratulations to Bloomberg on his third term, then vowed to keep Bloomberg honest by examining development deals, rooting out fraud and scrutinizing "no-bid contracts whose justifications are weak at best."

Bloomberg, who dropped his Republican voter registration in 2007 boasted that he was the first independent ever to take the mayoral oath.

He did not directly address any criticism in his 14-minute speech but told thousands of spectators in City Hall plaza that his job was "to listen and to lead" for four more years.

"No matter where you live and work, no matter what your race or roots, no matter who you love or who you worship or who you voted for, I pledge to be your mayor," he said.

"And I will not stop working for you - I will not rest - until every job seeker finds work, every high school student graduates, every child is safe from illegal guns, every family has an affordable home, and every New Yorker with a dream finds it within reach."

He promised to continue to fight in Washington for tougher Gun Laws and more Liberal Immigration policies while committing to push locally for laws and policies to help Entreprenuers start Small Businesses.

"I've been there. I know how tough it is," said Bloomberg, who made his billions by starting the Bloomberg LP financial information service. "Government can do more and we will do more."

Bloomberg's only specific commitment in the speech was to shuffle top deputies at each city agency to another agency for three weeks, to improve communication, look for innovations and breakdown "bureacratic barriers."

"Conventional wisdom holds that a third term, mayors always run out of energy and ideas," he said. "But we've proved the conventional wisdom wrong time and time again, and I promise you, we will do it one more time."

Bloomberg's mother, Charlotte, who turns 101 Saturday, did not make the trip to New York, but the mayor plans to visit her at her Boston-area home for her birthday.

The mayor began his day at Park Slope Christian Help, a Brooklyn soup kitchen, where he helped prepare New Year's Day meals for 150 people before taking an R train to City Hall.

He wore a black turtleneck sweater emblazoned with an "I love NYC" logo, and was joined by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson.

When Sister Betty Schroeder blessed Bloomberg and his new term, he replied, "It would be perfect if John Sampson delivered all the state's money to us."



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Sources: NY Daily News, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps

Roland Burris is Sworn into the U.S. Senate

On Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 @2:00pm (ET) Roland Burris, recently impeached Gov. Blagojevich's pick for Obama's Senate seat, was sworn into the U.S. Senate.

Due to Blagojevich being accused of trying to sell Illinois' Senate Obama's seat, Burris was blocked a week ago by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who was accused of practicing Racism, from joining his colleagues on the Senate floor for the Official swearing-in ceremony of the 111Th U.S. Congress.

Roland Burris the ONLY African-American U.S. Senator, refused to back down from his appointment stating it was a totally legal political move, and threatened to sue the U.S. Senate in Federal Court for his right to serve.

Senator Burris was sworn in by current Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Roland Burris discussing his being blocked from entering the Senate Floor with the Media.



Sources: CNN, Political Base, Examiner