美国有线新闻 CNN 特朗普提名保守派法官戈萨奇出任美最高法院大法官（在线收听）

The U.S. Supreme Court has had eight justices serving on it since Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died suddenly last February. Four of these justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Four were appointed by Democratic presidents. So, on divisive cases, you can see how a 4-4 split could hamper the court's decision making process.

Last March, then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated a U.S. Appeals Court judge named Merrick Garland to replace Justice Scalia. But Republicans who controlled the Senate argued that the next U.S. president should appoint Scalia's replacement. And they did not give Judge Garland a hearing.

With the new U.S. leader now in place, a new nominee has been named. Tuesday night, President Donald Trump announced that Neil Gorsuch, a U.S. Appeals Court judge, was his pick to fill Scalia's seat on the high court. The 49-year-old Judge Gorsuch is considered to be a conservative jurist, like Scalia. The nominee studied at Columbia, Harvard and Oxford Universities and President Trump says his qualifications are beyond dispute.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi described Gorsuch as a hostile appointment, who's outside the American mainstream.

Experts say Gorsuch is still likely to join the Supreme Court bench. His Senate confirmation hearings are set to begin in six weeks.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, serve for life. That's why presidents regard these judicial appointments as such an important way to extend their own legacies.

SUBTITLE: Selecting Supreme Court justices.

Steps to becoming a Supreme Court justice:

Secure a presidential nomination. Sit before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Receive confirmation by a Senate vote.

TOOBIN: The Constitution does not set out a resume that a Supreme Court justice has to have. There's no requirement in the Constitution that a Supreme Court justice even be a lawyer. But traditionally, presidents have nominated impeccably qualified sitting judges.

Both presidents and senators like to say that the confirmation process is all about qualifications. But it's really also about politics. Virtually, every important issue in American politics and even American life winds up in front of the Supreme Court, and they have the last word. Both the president and the senators trying to figure out how the nominee's stance on the hot-button issues that the Supreme Court deals with and that's why the senators will vote yes or not.

The Supreme Court is designed to operate with nine justices. What makes Justice Scalia's death so unusual in Supreme Court history is that most justices announce that they plan to retire and then a president nominates their successor. So, there is no vacancy at any point in the Supreme Court. With eight justices, there are possibilities for tie votes, which can create a significant amount of confusion in the law.