Supreme Court showdown simmering for decades
Supreme Court nominee gets closer to confirmation
History was WASHINGTON made Thursday in the U.S. Senate: Democrats mounted a partisan filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Republicans blew up the Senate’s rules to clear the way for his confirmation.
That history came with a history of its own, replete with temporary victories for each party and plenty of blame to go around. It’s a brawl that’s been decades in the making. And it’s put the court where it least wants to be — squarely in the middle of American politics.
Before Gorsuch, there was Merrick Garland. Before Garland, there was Miguel Estrada. Before Estrada, John Roberts and Elena Kagan. Before Kagan, Robert Bork. Before Bork, Clement Haynsworth. Before Haynsworth, Abe Fortas.
All were blocked, at
Republicans voted WASHINGTON Thursday to invoke the “nuclear option” to strip Democrats of their power to block Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch from being confirmed — a victory with far-reaching consequences that could forever change the way justices are approved and shatter the Senate’s bipartisan traditions.
The dramatic action, approved by a party line vote, cleared the way for the Republican majority to end the Democrats’ filibuster of Gorsuch’s nomination immediately afterward. Senators voted 55-45 to end debate and advance Gorsuch’s nomination to a final up-or-down confirmation vote Friday.
Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined the chamber’s 52 Republicans in voting to end debate. All three are moderates from swing states that President Trump won in last fall’s election.
Earlier in the day, those three lawmakers and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., joined Republicans in the first attempt to stop the Democratic filibuster.
The vote to approve the nuclear option changed the Senate filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominees, so only a simple majority of senators are needed to end debate and move to a final confirmation vote. Before that change, it took 60 votes — threefifths of the 100-member chamber — to end debate.
“There’s a reason why it’s called the nuclear option,” Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “It’s the most extreme measure, with the most extreme consequences.
“The consequences for the Senate and for the future of the Supreme Court will be far-reaching,” Schumer said. The 60-vote threshold in the Senate has been “the guardrail of our democracy ... when it comes to the courts, the guardrails are being dismantled.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urged Democrats on Thursday morning to have a last-minute change of heart and let Gorsuch’s nomination go through. Otherwise, he warned sternly, “this will be the first and last partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nomination.”
He emphasized that a successful partisan filibuster would be the first mounted against a Supreme Court nominee in the Senate’s 230-year history. “This is the latest escalation in the neverending judicial war,” McConnell said.
The action came nearly 14 months after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13, 2016.