The Supreme Court has announced it will hear a Missouri religious liberty case in late spring, perhaps just in time for President Donald Trump's nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, to be confirmed by Congress and seated on the bench, the Washington Examiner reported Friday.
Oral arguments in the case, Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, will begin April 19, which is just over a month after Judge Gorsuch's confirmation hearings begin.
The Supreme Court will decide whether the state of Missouri was constitutional in barring a church from state funding provided to nonprofits to resurface its playground. Missouri's constitution prohibits churches, or any specific religious group, from receiving public funds. It is a provision a majority of U.S. states have.
If Gorsuch's confirmation concludes before the start of the case, he could settle a 4-4 ideological tie in the Supreme Court, the Examiner noted. Congressional Democrats have been holding up confirmations for President Donald Trump's administration, though.