Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday declared that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed by Friday.
“We will confirm Judge Gorsuch this week,” McConnell told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. “Exactly how that happens will be up to our Democratic colleagues.”
The statement would appear to be a clear indication that McConnell intends to invoke the “nuclear option,” denying the right to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee allowing an up-or-down vote on Gorsuch, if Democrats seek to require 60 votes by filibustering the nomination.
The Kentucky senator said he is unsure the upper chamber has the eight Democratic votes to avoid a filibuster because some liberal lawmakers have yet to disclose their position. Schumer said Sunday morning that the 60 votes for Gorsuch would not materialize.
“What I’m telling you is that Judge Gorsuch is going to be confirmed. The way in which that occurs is in the hands of the Democratic minority. I think during the course of the week we will find out exactly how this will end, but it will end with his confirmation,” McConnell added.
McConnell defended the Senate Republicans’ potential use of the nuclear option and dismissed Democrats’ relying on the filibuster to slow down the confirmation process.
“I think it is noteworthy that no Supreme Court justice has ever in the history of our country been stopped by a partisan filibuster ever. In fact, the business of filibustering judges is a fairly recent invention,” McConnell said. “And in particular, Sen. Schumer convinced his colleagues after Bush 43 got elected to start filibustering judges.”
