President Donald Trump continued encouraging his party’s Senate leader Wednesday to waive a 60-vote threshold to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, if necessary, the morning after the upper chamber’s top Democrat suggested a nomination fight was coming.
“I feel that it’s very dishonest if [Democrats] go about doing that, and yes, if we end up with the same gridlock they’ve had in Washington for the last—longer than eight years, in all fairness to President Obama, a lot longer than eight years—but if we end up with that gridlock, I would say, if you can, Mitch [McConnell], go nuclear,” Trump said during a meeting with groups supporting Gorsuch’s nomination. “Because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality is caught up in the web. It’s up to Mitch, but I would say go for it.”
Trump said last week he would want McConnell, the Senate majority leader, to use the so-called “nuclear option” to approve his choice for the High Court if Democrats blocked the process. Former majority leader Harry Reid invoked it in 2013 for sub-SCOTUS selections, allowing the upper chamber to conclude a filibuster with a simple-majority vote instead of the three-fifths vote staring Republicans in the face today. The GOP has a 52-48 advantage in the Senate, meaning eight Democrats would need to support Gorsuch if the process were to play out with no change to the rules.
West Virginia senator Joe Manchin told THE WEEKLY STANDARD Tuesday he would not participate in a filibuster of Trump’s choice. North Dakota senator Heidi Heitkamp told Politico that Gorsuch should receive a straight up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. And several of their Democratic counterparts, including Delaware senator Chris Coons and Montana’s Jon Tester, said they support giving Gorsuch a Judiciary Committee hearing and an opportunity for his nomination to move to the Senate floor, though their support of ending debate on his nomination and proceeding to a simple-majority vote is undetermined.
Tuesday night, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he had “very serious doubts” if Gorsuch would meet his standards to earn approval to the High Court, though he did not say he would lead or back a filibuster. Schumer was in the Senate 10 years ago when the chamber approved a batch of judicial nominees, including Gorsuch, without objection, in what is called an en bloc vote. Trump took note of that history Wednesday.
“I think there’s a certain dishonesty if [Democrats] go against their vote from not very long ago. And [Gorsuch] did get a unanimous endorsement,” he said. “And he’s somebody that—you can’t do better, from an educational, from an experiential, from many standpoints. A great judge. He’ll be a great justice.”
