President Trump directed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday to employ the nuclear option to confirm his Supreme Court nominee if Democrats try to stall the process.
“If we end up with that gridlock, I would say if you can, Mitch, go nuclear,” Trump said Wednesday when asked Democrats’ strategy to filibuster his nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Trump’s request comes less than 24 hours after he named Gorsuch as his choice to replace the late Justice Atonin Scalia on the Supreme Court bench. Several Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., immediately vowed to block the nominee from receiving confirmation without 60 votes.
Trump had previously told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview last month that he would advise Senate Republicans to use the nuclear option, but his latest comments come after McConnell seemed reluctant to do so.
“That’s not a presidential decision. That’s a Senate decision,” McConnell had told Politico after Trump’s comments in late January.
