Pence: Gorsuch will be confirmed by U.S. Senate

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday echoed comments he made in February about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, stating he would be confirmed “one way or the other,” The Hill reported.

“For the sake of our Supreme Court, for the sake of our country, for the sake of our Constitution, we will overcome the obstructionists, and the United States Senate will confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch one way or the other,” Pence told a group in Columbus, Ohio.

Other top Republicans have indicated support for President Donald Trump’s nominee if they failed to muster the 60 votes necessary for confirmation.

Should that occur, Republican senators could invoke the “nuclear option,” changing the rules and allowing confirmation based on a simple majority vote.

Currently, two Democrats facing re-election in 2018 in states where Trump won by large margins, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, have said they would support Gorsuch, while 38 fellow Democrats said they “vowed to filibuster,” The Hill reported.

Pence used the same words in February in Philadelphia to the Federalist Society when he said Gorsuch would join the Supreme Court “one way or the other,” while Trump has urged senators to “go nuclear” if necessary.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn Friday called on Democrats to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court on Monday, saying that the nominee “is no extremist or judicial radical.”

“Senate Democrats agreed with that assessment back in 2006, when the chamber unanimously confirmed him to his current post” on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver, the Texas Republican said in an oped piece on CNN.

“If Democrats refuse to allow an up-or-down vote on Judge Gorsuch, as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened, then there’s no Republican nominee they won’t filibuster.”