The U.S. Senate appears to be heading towards a filibuster over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
The U.S. Senate appears to be heading towards a filibuster over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
Gorsuch needs 60 votes to be confirmed by the Senate, but the Washington Post reports that he may not be able to reach that threshold with just 52 Republicans in office.
Politico notes that many Democrats have been vocal about their opposition to Gorsuch, who they claim was not forthright about his judicial philosophy during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Liberals are also reportedly still angry over the lack of action that was taken on former President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
As such, NBC News reports that “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that he will filibuster the nominee, which means he'll force a 60-vote threshold once it clears the committee.”
However, the strategy may not work, in part, because some Democrats have not yet taken a position on Gorsuch’s nomination; Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, for example, told news outlet VTDigger that “I am not inclined to filibuster, even though I’m not inclined to vote for him.”
The Republicans could also bypass the Democrats with the so-called nuclear option which would enable his confirmation through a simple majority vote.
