Pols fear Gorsuch nom will permanently alter Senate

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“I have no belief that they would honor any agreement if they got back in charge so, you know, if you keep doing this stuff and you keep getting the same result it’s kind of foolish after a while,” said an exasperated Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who helped reach past compromises to avoid the nuclear option and has regularly voted for Democratic nominees. “Enough is enough. I mean, come on. You look like an idiot after a while.”

Graham and other Republicans say the only solution is for eight Democrats to help override the 60-vote filibuster margin and let Gorsuch get an up-or-down vote.

But relations are so bad in the Senate now that few Democrats trust Republicans to honor the current rules the next time around even if they acquiesce this time.

“If they’re so quick to change the rules this time they’ll be just as quick to change them next time,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

Only a handful of Democrats have agreed to back Gorsuch or haven’t ruled out a filibuster ahead of a series of votes expected on Thursday and Friday. “I remain very worried about our polarized politics and what the future will bring, since I’m certain we will have a Senate rule change that will usher in more extreme judges in the future,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said in a Friday afternoon statement announcing her opposition. McCaskill is still planning to filibuster a man she said has “shown a stunning lack of humanity” in his court rulings. She’s alone. Sherrod Brown (DOhio), a swing-state senator facing not Sen. reelection, told The News that it was an “easy call” to oppose Gorsuch because “he believes that corporations are people.” Old-school senators in both parties lament what’s happened to the chamber. Many say it will soon be indistinguishable from the hyper-partisan, semi-dysfunctional House, and warn that this change could mean a much more polarized Supreme Court with more hardline judges in the future because they’ll only have to get 51 votes.

They also warn that it could foreshadow the elimination of the filibuster on even legislative items, which would deep-six a centuries-old Senate tradition.

“You have Reid breaking the rules to change the rules and then you have McConnell breaking the rules to change the rules. And in essence it’d be very easy the next time there’s a big legislative issue to just go ahead and do it,” warned Sen. Bob Corker (RTenn.). “We both have been bad stewards of the Senate.”

But Corker said the only solution he saw was for Democrats to cave in exchange for promises to protect the filibuster.

And with just days until the vote, those who helped negotiate previous agreements to avoid damaging the Senate don’t have much hope for change.

“There’s not a prayer in the world,” Sen. Roger Wicker (RMiss.) told The News.