Dems Have Votes To Filibuster Trump’s SCOTUS Pick Gorsuch

Republican leaders have said that if they’re faced with a filibuster, they’ll deploy the “nuclear option” – a congressional maneuver that would allow simple majority of senators to end debate and hold a vote, paving the way for Gorsuch’s approval.

Graham’s comment came after two senior Democrats on the Committee, Sen. Chris Coons of DE who announced his decision Monday as the Senate Judiciary Committee met to vote on Gorsuch’s nomination.

“To say that this nominee, because he seems bland and non-threatening, is less important than the next one, I think is a mistake”, he said. While the nuclear option will not apply to all legislation – sweeping reform of the health insurance industry or the tax code, for example, would still need 60 votes to end debate in the Senate – it will make make such compromise that much more hard to achieve. How many of them are willing to oppose cloture, on a partisan basis, to kill a Supreme Court nominee?

However, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the panel, said Gorsuch’s answers during two days of questioning before the committee were “diluted with ambiguity”. But he says he will not try to block a vote.

So far, just three Democrats have said they will vote for Gorsuch. A series of speeches – and probably testy debate – is expected from senators before roll call vote occurs.

“I have grave concerns about any attempt to change Senate rules on confirmation of Supreme Court nominees. I think during the course of the week we will find out exactly how this will end, but it will end with his confirmation”, McConnell added.

“Judge Gorsuch’s testimony, and the testimony of witnesses who actually know him, creates a dilemma for anybody desperately searching for a reason to vote oppose his nomination”, he wrote.

McConnell harshly criticized Democrats in 2013 for changing the Senate’s rules to allow confirmation of other presidential nominees, including Cabinet appointees, by a simple majority.

“There was nowhere Donnelly could go without hearing from us”, Hupfer said.

Neil Gorsuch testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 22, 2017. “They will fire every attack they can marshal at whoever the nominee is”, said Sen.

Democrats have accused Gorsuch of being insufficiently independent of Trump, evading questions on key Supreme Court rulings of the past including on abortion and political spending, and favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans.

If the nuclear option is successful, Republicans would revote to break the filibuster, this time needing just 51 votes to do that. Republicans, with a 52-48 majority, have vowed to change the Senate’s arcane rules if necessary. Republicans wouldn’t even hold a hearing for Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee.

Gorsuch was, in more ways than one, the ideal choice to fill Antonin Scalia’s place on the Supreme Court. Administrative Review Board in which Gorsuch sided with an employer who fired a trucker who disobeyed an order to stay with a disabled vehicle in subzero weather conditions. In the other case, Gorsuch sided with a school district that denied services to a student with autism.

While Kaine lauded Gorsuch’s for his professional and educational background, he said a nominee to the Supreme Court must also demonstrate sound judicial philosophy. This includes Senator Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat who revealed he would be opposing the nomination of Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The move infuriated Democrats – and has been a major factor in generating such unified opposition to Gorsuch. The full Senate is expected to vote on the confirmation later this week. Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the United States on Thursday, and Trump is expected to pressure him to do more about North Korea, which experts fear could soon develop a long-range nuclear missile capable of hitting the USA mainland.

Gorsuch, President Trump’s pick to fill the high court seat of conservative Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, will nearly certainly have enough votes to pass the GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, but will struggle to get 60 votes for final confirmation by Friday.

If approved in committee, the full Senate would vote on the nominee later this week.