President Donald Trump has nominated Colorado federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch for the US Supreme Court, the BBC reports.

If confirmed by the Senate, the 49-year-old would replace the vacancy left on the court by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

The upper chamber’s Democratic leader has already said he has “very serious doubts” about the nominee.

The court has the last legal word on many of the most sensitive US issues, from abortion to gender to gun control.