WASHINGTON: Donald Trump seized a chance to swing the US Supreme Court back to conservative leanings, but a drawn-out battleloomedonWednesday over this and other nominations.

Trump, in the second week of his already-unorthodox presidency, on Tuesday nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to replace conservative justice Antonin Scalia, whose death last year sent the Supreme Court rocketing to the top of the list of presidential campaign issues.

`He`ll be approved very quickly,` Trump declared onWednesday as he met African-American business and community leaders.

But that pronouncement belieswhatbymost accounts will be a monumental battle in the Republican-controlled Senate to approve Gorsuch, after Trump`s party refused for much of last year to fill the vacant court seat with Barack Obama`s nominee.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has already warned that Democrats will insist on Gorsuch obtaining a supermajority of 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate.

That could result in Republicans changing the Senate rules to push him through with a simple majority the so-called `nuclear option`.

If confirmed, Gorsuch would tilt the balance of the court five-to-four in conservatives`favour.

At 49, the silver-haired jurist from Colorado with aflair for writing incisive rulings is the youngest nominee in a generation. His appointment could have a major impact on cases ranging from business regulation to gender rights to gun control.

For Trump, the selection is payback to evangelicalChristian and conservative Republicans who backed his bid for the presidency at times reluctantly.

Republicans hold 52 seats in the upper house meaning that to secure 60, Gorsuch must win some Democratic votes a task made tougher by the acrimonious row over Trump`s ban on travellers from several Muslim countries.

And Democrats warn they will probe carefully to ensure that he holds centrist views and is not intent on rewriting exi sting law.

Schumer said it was up to Gorsuch to `prove himself to be within the legal mainstream` and `vigorously defend the constitution` from presidential abuses.

The Democrats have also vowed to slow-walk confirmation votes on several of Trump`s cabinet nominees.

Their boycott of votes ontwo nominees was dramatically overturned on Wednesday when leaders of the Senate finance committee suspended the panel`s rules and approved Trump`s picks for treasury, Steven Mnuchin, and health, Tom Price, with no Democrats present.

Democrats also boycotted a committee vote on Wednesday for Scott Pruitt, Trump`s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

`It`s just one more disappointment,` Republican Senator Jerry Moran told a half-empty hearing room.

`We`ve become too often governing by tantrum now.

Despite the obstruction, Trump`s attorney general pick Senator Jeff Sessions was finally approved by the Senate`s judiciary committee on Wednesday following an eight-day delay.-AFP