Gorsuch Passes Key Vote After Republicans Change Filibuster Rules
McConnell, Trump, Gorsuch All to Blame
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have just voted to invoke cloture, ending debate on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. After killing the filibuster, which required 60 votes for a nominee to move forward, only a simple majority was needed. The final vote was 55-45, with three Democrats supporting Republicans: Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Mnachin, and Joe Donnelly.
It is a historic abuse of power and a sad day for the rich history of the U.S. Senate. Almost as bad, Republicans claim Democrats forced them to change the rules to allow Gorsuch to be confirmed. President Donald Trump could have withdrawn his candidate, or Sen. McConnell could have allowed Gorsuch to fail. Judge Gorsuch could have been a statesman and withrdrawn his name from consideration. None chose to do so.
.@SenOrrinHatch announces Senate vote changing filibuster rules for #SCOTUS nominations from 60 to simple majority. #NuclearOption pic.twitter.com/tcV5UrHwbR
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 6, 2017
The final vote to officially confirm Gorsuch will take place Friday. Â
Senate now has up to 30 hours of post-cloture debate on Gorsuch Supreme Court nomination prior to confirmation vote by Friday 6:49pm.
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) April 6, 2017
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Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr and a CC license
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