Trump Set to Administer Oath to Gorsuch Next Week

WASHINGTON — (CNN) Judge Neil Gorsuch may be heading toward final confirmation later today, but he won’t be formally sworn in until early next week.

President Donald Trump is likely to administer the oath to his first Supreme Court nominee on Monday or possibly Tuesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday.

The President, who is in Florida until Sunday, is not scheduled to hold a swearing-in ceremony for Gorsuch until after he returns to Washington, Spicer said.

The nomination of Gorsuch is being hailed by the Trump administration as one of its biggest accomplishments. A full ceremony is expected next week to mark the moment.

The President said Thursday the Senate’s decision to trigger the so-called nuclear option — allowing Gorsuch to join the court with a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the traditional 60 votes that have long been required — would not change his approach to future nominees.

But Trump said he does expect to appoint more — perhaps many more.

“We have a great person right now in Judge Gorsuch,” Trump told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One. “Hopefully if there is a second one for me in my administration and there could be as many as four — in fact, under a certain scenario there could be more than that. But no, I don’t think the nuclear option has any impact on that.”

The President did not elaborate on what scenario he was referring to.