A moment of levity snuck into Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, when a Republican senator brought up a beloved science fiction comedy “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked Gorsuch, “what is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything?” — a topic which Cruz said Gorsuch has some familiarity.
Gorsuch’s answer was “42.”
The question is a reference to the “Hitchhiker’s Guide,” in which a supercomputer built by aliens spends 7.5 million years contemplating the answer to that question. While the computer, known as Deep Thought, comes up with an answer — 42 — it never learned what the actual question was.
.@tedcruz asks #Gorsuch to answer "the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything" (from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") pic.twitter.com/FHZbUyP4Qg— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 21, 2017
Gorsuch, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, explained that he would sometimes ask that question to nervous clerks being sworn in to put them at ease.
He also said that question is a “family joke,” as it is likely one of his daughter’s favorite books.
