Nearly a full year after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death left the Supreme Court shorthanded, President Trump nominated federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the void Tuesday night, setting off a pitched battle over the direction of the nation’s highest court Trump was unveiling his nominee to the nation on live television from the East Room of the White House after a day filled with palace intrigue, during which the media mapped the whereabouts of Gorsuch, from Colorado, and federal appeals court Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, another favorite for the seat. Gorsuch, 49, is a Scalia acolyte who believes judges should interpret laws as they are written and enforce the Constitution as the nation’s framers intended.