With the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, the president of the United States is seeking to give conservatives hegemony over the country's highest court for decades to come, a position that would allow them to change the reality of the US.

According to experts consulted by EFE, Donald Trump enjoys an unusual position of power over the Supreme Court, given that he has the chance to select not only a replacement for the late Judge Antonin Scalia, but also for some of the older judges of the court. Trump himself has acknowledged the power given to him by voters during the November elections to decide the future of the judicial wing of the State.

"The most important decision a president of the United States can make is the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. Depending on their age, a justice can be active for 50 years and his or her decisions can last a century or more and can often be permanent," he said. There are currently three Supreme Court judges above the age of 78, which is the average age at which judges have retired since 1960.

If Gorsuch gains Senate approval, the Supreme Court will retain the conservative composition prevalent since 1972 and return to its status quo of four progressive and five conservative judges, the same ratio that existed before the demise of Scalia. However, in the long term the Supreme Court could suffer a radical transformation on controversial topics such as abortion and the right of homosexuals to marry, Thomas Berry of the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, told EFE.

 Gorsuch's nomination has sparked concern among groups in favor of abortion, due to his stance that there is no constitutional base that supports giving priority to "pro-choice" for pregnant women. In this regard, the Democrats at the Senate have announced they will question Gorsuch if he intends to ban abortion, a right recognized by the top court in 1973. In the Senate, Gorsuch needs eight votes from Democrats for his name to be ratified, although a Republican support of 52 seats would be sufficient during a second round of voting.

Gorsuch's ratification will signify a huge victory for the Republicans as for months they rejected the candidature of moderate Judge Merrick Garland, nominated by then-President Barrack Obama to replace the deceased Scalia in the Supreme Court.

Although a conservative, Gorsuch's stance is not known to be as extreme as many of the judges Trump was considering and whose names were made public during the presidential campaign.

"Judge Gorsuch will find it easier than any others Trump had been considering," Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina told EFE.

However, the nomination is being viewed by many as a setback for groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the civil rights organizations that have sued Trump for his decree on immigrants and refugees. It is possible for this and many other of Trump's measures to end up in the Supreme Court, as happened with Obama, who was often accused of stretching the limits of his executive powers.