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The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the grueling public vetting process of Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch, tomorrow.

In a bid to place hurdles in the way of Gorsuch's confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate, Democrats on committee have said they will probe him on several fronts based mainly on his record as a federal appeals court judge and a Justice Department appointee under former President George W. Bush.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said Sunday on the Face the Nation that Democrats can try to block Gorsuch, but they will not be able to tank his appointment.

'They don't have any good arguments again the Gorsuch, but they're furious that we're going to have a conservative nominated and confirmed,' he said. 'I'll tell you this. Judge Gorsuch will be confirmed. He will either get 60 votes and be confirmed or otherwise whatever procedural steps are necessary.'

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said Sunday on the Face the Nation that Democrats can try to block Judge Neil Gorsuch from the Supreme Court, but they will not be able to tank his appointment

The comment from Cruz, a Senate Judiciary member, suggested that Republicans are ready to go 'nuclear' if Democrats get in the way of a smooth confirmation process for the conservative judge.

Republicans have said they would prefer to keep the rules of the Senate intact. That requires a commitment to vote for Gorsuch from at least eight Senate Democrats. 

It takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, and Republicans hold a slim majority of 52 seats. 

They may have to embrace a procedural move floated during Obama's time in office by Democrats that would allow them to push through judicial nominees with a bare majority that's known as the nuclear option.

In his appearance on Face the Nation today Cruz quoted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and said, ' 'We will do whatever is necessary. A Democratic filibuster will not succeed.'  I agree with the leader.'

'I think it's 50-50 whether the Democrats filibuster it,' he told host John Dickerson, leaving open the possibility that the opposing party back off this battle.

The fight over Gorsuch fell by the wayside in early March as lawmakers went to battle over Obamacare and Trump's claim that Barack Obama wiretapped him.

NARAL-Pro Choice, Planned Parenthood and a coalition of 50 other liberal groups sent Democratic lawmakers a letter in advance of this week's confirmation hearings telling them to buck up.

'Democrats have failed to demonstrate a strong, unified resistance to this nominee despite the fact that he is an ultra-conservative jurist who will undermine our basic freedoms and threaten the independence of the federal judiciary,' the letter stated. 'We need you to do better.'

The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the grueling public vetting process of Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch (pictured) tomorrow

Democrats plan to make the case this week that the federal judge is a pro-business, social conservative insufficiently independent of the president.

Gorsuch has served on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 2006. He would replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. If confirmed by the Senate, Gorsuch would restore a narrow 5-4 conservative majority on the court.

Among questions he will face will be whether he is sufficiently independent from Trump, who has criticized judges for ruling against his bid to restrict travel from Muslim-majority countries.

'The high burden of proof that Judge Gorsuch has to meet is largely a result of the president who nominated him,' Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who sits on the committee, said last week at an event featuring several plaintiffs who lost cases that came before Gorsuch.

Another line of attack previewed by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer at the same event is to focus on rulings Gorsuch, 49, has authored in which corporate interests won out over individual workers.

'Judge Gorsuch may act like a neutral, calm judge but his record and his career clearly show he harbors a right wing, pro-corporate special interest legal agenda,' Schumer said.

One case involved truck driver Alphonse Maddin, who was fired after he disobeyed a supervisor and abandoned his trailer at the side of a road after the brakes froze. Gorsuch wrote a dissenting opinion as a three-judge panel ruled last year that Maddin was wrongly terminated and had to be reinstated with back pay.

Among questions the Supreme Court nominee will face is whether he is sufficiently independent from Trump, who has criticized judges for ruling against his bid to restrict travel from Muslim-majority countries

Another issue, set to be pressed by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, is Gorsuch's role as a Justice Department lawyer under Bush from 2005 to 2006, when he helped defend controversial policies enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, including the administration's expansive use of aggressive interrogation techniques.

Gorsuch' views on social issues, including a 2006 book he wrote in which he argued against the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia, will be discussed too.

In the book, Gorsuch cited the 'inviolability of human life,' calling it a 'basic good,' which some conservatives say could indicate that he is also opposed to abortion. Conservative activists have for decades sought to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.

Republicans have praised Gorsuch's 11-year record on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

'Notwithstanding Gorsuch´s superb qualifications and principled approach to judging, Democrats and their liberal allies strain mightily to find plausible grounds to oppose his nomination,' Hatch said in a newspaper article on Friday.

Known for his genial demeanor and keen intellect, Gorsuch will, like prior nominees, seek to engage with senators as much as possible while declining to answer specific questions.

Much is at stake for Trump and his Republican Party. If confirmed as expected given the Republicans' control of the 100-member Senate, Gorsuch would restore the court´s conservative tilt. Doing that without too much drama would be Trump's biggest win so far as president.

Gorsuch has served on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 2006. He would replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. The two are seen together in the photo above

With the United States divided sharply between liberals and conservatives, ideological dominance of the Supreme Court, where justices serve for life, is a blue-ribbon prize, with an impact that can last for decades.

For Democrats, the hearing will dredge up bitter feelings. After Scalia died unexpectedly, former Democratic President Barack Obama nominated a replacement, but Republicans for months refused to consider him, blocking a leftward shift on the court.

Since Scalia´s death the court has been divided equally 4-4 between conservatives and liberals.

In some ways, the fight over Gorsuch will be just a preview of an even bigger battle to come over the next vacancy.

'We´ve known for years, before Justice Scalia passed, that this next president would have two or three Supreme Court nominations,' said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative legal group.

Three court justices are elderly. Ruth Bader Ginsburg just turned 84. Her fellow liberal Stephen Breyer is 78. The court´s frequent swing vote, conservative Anthony Kennedy, is 80.

If any of them was to be replaced by a conservative similar to Gorsuch, the court would have a firm 6-3 conservative majority, possibly for decades.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)