Democrats have been working their asses off for a good while to block Gorsuch’s confirmation via ‘filibuster.’
Using the nuclear option meant Republicans needed just 51 votes to break the filibuster, rather than the historic threshold of 60.
Prior to the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned against the deployment of the nuclear option, with the knowledge that Harry Reid’s unprecedented move nudged the Senate down the slippery slope regarding filibuster procedure back in 2013.
Nonetheless..it looks like the Dems are going to accept Gorsuch as a member of the Supreme Court!
After the vote, McConnell took to Twitter and vowed that Gorsuch would be the 9th Supreme Court Justice before the weekend:
There will now be up to 30 hours of debate prior to the vote to confirm @GorsuchFacts. He will be our 9th #SCOTUS Justice by tomorrow night.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) April 6, 2017
People on the left side of the issue were irate.
Blowing up the rules for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is a dangerous path to go down. This is a sad day for the Senate. –PM
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) April 6, 2017
My statement on Republican Leadership's decision to change Senate rules in order to confirm Judge Gorsuch: pic.twitter.com/kM8m2JMYkg
— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) April 6, 2017
The only way Republicans can get something done in Washington is by changing the rules. That's how a dictatorship acts. #NuclearOption
— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) April 6, 2017
If you have to change the rules and lower the bar to get a SCOTUS nominee confirmed…
He probably is a "so-called" Judge.#NuclearOption
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) April 6, 2017
Republicans just re-wrote the constitution to steal a Supreme Court seat. This moment will be remembered through history #nuclearoption
— ♻️🇺🇸 Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) April 6, 2017
After today, in theory, Democratic voters should be as focused on Senate control specifically for SCOTUS as evangelical Republicans are.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 6, 2017
#NuclearOption @GOP you people are beyond contempt. First blocking president obama's right to pick scotus appointment, now this disgrace
— Wellworn (@firefly233) April 6, 2017
Sad day for democracy & the senate. GOP will have to live with what they've done. Another notch it their shame stick…
— TrumpDumpster (@caschmitt) April 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/gregvaneekhout/status/850025812908584961
https://twitter.com/IdealsWin/status/850028747990474752
So now…the Senate will vote to confirm Gorsuch at some point on Friday — and there’s nothing Democrats can do to stop it.
