--- title: Neil Gorsuch Confirmation Hearing: Softball Questions abound description: Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch faced some tough questions on his background, but not every question was that tough. canonical: https://time.com/4709028/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-confirmation-hearing-questions/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-22T15:36:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:58:10.487Z article:section: Politics og:title: Gorsuch Is Getting Some Softball Questions at His Confirmation Hearings og:description: "What's the largest trout you ever caught?" og:url: https://time.com/4709028/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-confirmation-hearing-questions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cebc54eecd9e10/6988bf57196cf4705a03f545/gettyimages-656106460.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gorsuch Is Getting Some Softball Questions at His Confirmation Hearings twitter:description: "What's the largest trout you ever caught?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cebc54eecd9e10/6988bf57196cf4705a03f545/gettyimages-656106460.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Neil Gorsuch Is Getting a Lot of Softball Questions at His Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=0f98394f-02d5-4cc9-94be-cdca9605e80b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 22, 2017 3:36 PM UTC  Judge Neil Gorsuch testifies during the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Judge Neil Gorsuch testifies during the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 22, 2017 3:36 PM UTC Supreme Court nominee [Neil Gorsuch](http://time.com/4708107/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-hearing-day-two/) has faced some [tough questions](http://time.com/4708727/neil-gorsuch-donald-trump-judge-attack-disheartening-demoralizing/) on his background and his [views on the law](http://time.com/4708665/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-jeff-flake-horse-duck-reddit/) at Senate confirmation hearings this week. But not all the questions have been tough. Some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee had softball questions for President Donald Trump’s nominee. When Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who heads the committee, asked if Gorsuch would “have any trouble” ruling against Trump, Gorsuch even responded “That’s a softball, Mr. Chairman.” Here’s a look at some of the easiest questions Gorsuch faced this week. **“Have you ever held a position as a member of Congress?”** \-Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, making a rhetorical point **“Does a good judge decide who should win and then work backward to try to justify the outcome?”** \-Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. (“That’s the easiest question of the day,” Gorsuch responded.) **“What’s the largest trout you ever caught?”** \-Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona **“Would you tell me where your favorite fishing stream is?”**\-Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho **“My son Dalen, teenager, said ask him if he would rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?”** \-Flake, referencing a common question asked on Reddit forums **“What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?”** \-Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, referencing a famous line from one of Gorsuch’s favorite books, _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_. (The answer, which Gorsuch correctly gave, is “42.”) **“So, my wife also sent me a text a little bit ago and said — and I’m sure she didn’t expect me to read it, but —how in the world is Gorsuch able to go so many hours at a time without peeing?”**\-Republican Sen. 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