The Senate will vote on the nomination of Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch on April 7, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday.
The vote will come days after the Senate Judiciary Committee considers the nomination on Monday and will potentially set up a showdown with Democrats, who are threatening to filibuster.
The vote does not guarantee Gorsuch will be confirmed. Republicans need eight Democrats to vote along with them and prevent a filibuster but so far none have firmly committed to backing Gorsuch.
“No Supreme Court justice has even been stopped by a partisan filibuster,” McConnell, R-Ky., said after a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans and Vice President Mike Pence. “That is obviously what the Democratic leader has announced they will do. We are optimistic they will not be successful in keeping this good man from joining the Supreme Court very soon.”
McConnell would not commit to imposing the “nuclear option” on the Senate by lowering the threshold from 60 votes to 51 if Democrats refuse to supply the eight votes. He said the outcome would be determined by Democrats but repeated his threat to confirm Gorsuch without them, which would require a rules change.
“We are going to get Judge Gorsuch confirmed,” McConnell said.
The Senate breaks for a two-week recess after April 7, so it’s not clear whether McConnell would keep the Senate in session if Democrats filibuster, or wait until after the break to deal with a possible rules change needed to confirm Gorsuch.
