Neil Gorsuch- President Trump's nomination for Supreme Court

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that he will nominate Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Introducing Gorsuch, Trump said he had committed as a candidate to "find the very best judge in the country for the Supreme Court," adding that he was seeking "someone who would interpret them are written."

"Millions of voters said this was he single most important issue for them when they voted for me for president," Trump said. "I am a man of my word."

"Today I am keeping another promise to the American people by nominating Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court."

The court has been operating with eight justices since the sudden death last February of Justice Antonin Scalia, reports CNN.

Trump selected Gorsuch -- who sits on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals -- from a list of 20 potential justices compiled during the presidential campaign.

Gorsuch has an Ivy League pedigree, having attended Columbia and Harvard, and also studied at Oxford, where he earned a doctorate in legal philosophy.