On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., raised a point of order shortly after noon to change Senate precedent for Supreme Court nominations from requiring 60 votes to a simple majority for confirmation.
This, commonly referred to as the “nuclear option,” allows Senate Republicans to vote Judge Neil Gorsuch onto the Supreme Court after not enough Democrats mustered the courage to confirm his nomination.
Despite Gorsuch’s sterling record and obvious qualifications, Democrats, many of whom pledged to consider the judge with open minds, ultimately crumbled under the pressure of hard-Left activists committed to obstructing any actions taken by the Trump administration.
Former Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott wrote in the Washington Post on Thursday to remind the public that “in the hands of today’s Democrats … no similar nominee could ever be confirmed if that [60 vote] ‘requirement’ remains.”
They are correct.
Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for their part, have suggested Republicans simply “change the nominee, not the rules” if they wish to reach the 60 vote threshold. But the Democratic Party, intimidated by its increasingly active progressive base, has committed itself to total obstructionism under the Trump administration.
If centrist Democrats cannot even bring themselves to support a nominee like Gorsuch, it is impossible to imagine a scenario wherein “changing the nominee” would ever fill vacancies on the highest court. And they know it.
There was only one way to fill that seat on Thursday, and Republicans made the right decision in doing it.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
