Senate Democrats plan filibuster to stop Gorsuch confirmation

WASHINGTON — Democrats plan a filibuster against Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, setting up a Senate fight that they are almost certain to eventually lose.

The long-expected announcement of the filibuster plan came from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. In a message on Twitter, Schumer said that Gorsuch would “face a cloture vote,” referring to the Senate process for filibusters.

“Judge Gorsuch’s nomination will face a cloture vote & as I’ve said, he will have to earn sixty votes for confirmation. My vote will be ‘No,’” Schumer tweeted.

Democratic vote counters are confident they have more than the 40 votes needed to sustain a filibuster, at least for a time. Currently, 48 senators caucus with the Democrats, including two who were elected as independents.

That leaves Senate Republicans with two paths they could use to confirm Gorsuch.

One option would be to have repeated cloture votes to test whether some Democrats, especially those from states carried by Trump in the presidential election, might break ranks after a symbolic vote or two.

The other option would be to move immediately to change Senate rules to allow a confirmation with only 51 votes.

Democrats already set the precedent for changing the rules in 2013, when they voted to require only a simple majority to confirm all presidential appointments other than Supreme Court justices. At the time, Republicans protested, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has strongly hinted he would follow suit if needed to get Gorsuch confirmed.

One issue for McConnell will be whether some veteran Republican senators are reluctant to change the filibuster rule without at least going through the motions of trying to gain 60 votes for cloture. McConnell has said he wants to get Gorsuch confirmed before the Senate takes its Easter recess, scheduled to begin April 6.