--- title: Neil Gorsuch Confirmation: He Used the Word 'Bigly' description: Neil Gorsuch accidentally used one of the President's signature words at his confirmation hearing. canonical: https://time.com/4709790/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-bigly/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-22T19:37:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:58:51.220Z article:section: Politics og:title: Neil Gorsuch Used the Word 'Bigly' at His Confirmation Hearing og:description: Before quickly correcting himself. og:url: https://time.com/4709790/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-bigly/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cebc54eecd9e10/6988bf57196cf4705a03f545/gettyimages-656106460.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Neil Gorsuch Used the Word 'Bigly' at His Confirmation Hearing twitter:description: Before quickly correcting himself. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cebc54eecd9e10/6988bf57196cf4705a03f545/gettyimages-656106460.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Neil Gorsuch Used the Word 'Bigly' at His Confirmation Hearing by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 22, 2017 7:37 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 7:37 PM UTC [Neil Gorsuch](http://time.com/4709234/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-hearing-supreme-court-decision/) has tried to [keep his distance](http://time.com/4708727/neil-gorsuch-donald-trump-judge-attack-disheartening-demoralizing/) from President Trump during his [confirmation hearings](http://time.com/4709234/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-hearing-supreme-court-decision/), but he accidentally used one of the President’s signature words. The Supreme Court nominee was being questioned by Republican Sen. Sasse of Nebraska about the role of the Declaration of Independence in interpreting the Constitution. Gorsuch responded by talking about the declaration, noting that John Hancock was famous for his signature. “No one remembers who John Hancock was, but they know that that’s a signature because he wrote his name so bigly … big and boldly,” he said, prompting laughter in the Senate hearing room. “You just said bigly,” responded Sasse. “And I just won five bucks.” “You embarrassed me in front of my nephew and he loves it,” Gorsuch replied. Without missing a beat, Sasse joked, “He’s the one paying me the five bucks.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4709790/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-bigly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4709790/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-bigly/"},"headline":"Neil Gorsuch Used the Word 'Bigly' at His Confirmation Hearing","datePublished":"2017-03-22T19:37:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:58:51.220Z","description":"\"I just won five bucks,\" responded a senator","url":"https://time.com/4709790/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-bigly/","keywords":["Congress","Supreme Court","White House","Donald Trump","Neil Gorsuch"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cebc54eecd9e10/6988bf57196cf4705a03f545/gettyimages-656106460.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27cebc54eecd9e10/6988bf57196cf4705a03f545/gettyimages-656106460.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch","caption":"Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4709790/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-bigly/","name":"Neil Gorsuch Used the Word 'Bigly' at His Confirmation Hearing"}}]}] ```