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A deeply divided Senate panel favorably recommended Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on Monday, sending the nomination to the full Senate for what is expected to be a partisan showdown — and eventual confirmation. The 11-9 committee vote for President Donald Trump's nominee, strictly along party lines, came shortly after Democrats secured enough votes to block the nomination in the full Senate. But that Democratic success was virtually certain to be a short-lived political victory, as Republicans vowed to change Senate rules to put Gorsuch on the court and score a much-needed win for their party.

“It’s highly, highly unlikely” that Judge Neil Gorsuch will get 60 votes for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. But over on “Fox News Sunday,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it doesn’t matter: “Yes, we're going to confirm Judge Gorsuch this week,” he told host Chris Wallace. McConnell said he doesn’t know if he can get eight Democrats to join 52 Republicans in confirming Gorsuch. “There are Democrats who have not yet announced their position,” he noted. (So far, only three Democrats have said they will vote...

As he tries to line up enough votes to block President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, the Senate Democratic leader is strongly warning Republicans against changing Senate rules to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch. . . . "He's bound and determined to change the rules and trample on Senate tradition" to get a conservative nominee approved, Schumer said of McConnell. "Let the public judge whether that is a good thing." . . . Schumer conceded Thursday that "We made one mistake, we shouldn't have changed the rules for lower court judges ... but we never did it for Supreme Court. This...

Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he is confident that he has laid the groundwork for Democrats to nuke the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees if they win back the Senate in November. Envisioning Hillary Clinton in the White House and Democrats controlling the Senate, Reid warned that if a Senate Republican minority block her Supreme Court nominee, he is confident the party won't hesitate to change the filibuster rules again. Such a move would be an extension of what Reid did in 2013 when he was still majority leader, eliminating filibusters (with a simple majority vote) on...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s vow to lead a filibuster of Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court raises the prospect of a dramatic rules-change that would permanently alter the Supreme Court confirmation process. The question now is whether there are 51 votes in the Senate Republican caucus to support the nuclear option. While most Republicans seem prepared to back the measure, a handful of consensus-oriented veterans may be recalcitrant to change the rules and further escalate the judicial confirmation wars.

Whatever it takes. This is a knife fight for the future of the country Whether you like to refer to it as “The Nuclear Option,” the “rule change,” or “The Reid Option,” know this: Rumors of its usage for the Neil Gorsuch appointment are everywhere. You’ll recall that, back in January, Chuck Schumer said “If they don’t appoint somebody good, we’re going to oppose them tooth and nail.” Then, just a few sentences later, he admitted that there really was no judge that Trump would nominate who Democrats could back. He basically promised endless filibuster in a doomed effort to...

Senate Republicans had to know there would be a price for their unprecedented theft of President Barack Obama’s final Supreme Court pick last year. On Thursday, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, named it: Either find 60 votes to overcome a filibuster of President Trump’s extremely conservative nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, or find another, more moderate choice. The last four Supreme Court nominees — two from Mr. Obama and two from President George W. Bush — all met the 60-vote threshold, Mr. Schumer said, so it was fair to require the same of Judge Gorsuch.

This morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced the Democrats will filibuster Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court. If you listen to the media, Republicans will have to use the "nuclear option" to confirm Gorsuch with 51 votes. But the media, as usual, misses the point: Harry Reid already pushed the button and the Senate is a nuclear wasteland. Read more here: http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/23/time-republicans-embrace-nuclear-option-neil-gorsuch/

As the Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing from witnesses for and against Judge Neil Gorsuch, his Supreme Court nomination was delivered a critical blow: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would join with other Democrats in filibustering Gorsuch — a move that would require at least 60 senators to vote to end debate on the nomination.

Proponents of the nuclear option say it is necessary to prevent Democrats from using the filibuster to permanently prevent a vote to confirm Gorsuch. Opponents of the nuclear option say it will not only fundamentally alter the nature of the Senate, it will also greatly empower Democrats when they retake the Senate and the White House. At its core, the debate over the nuclear option highlights the tension between the need for debate and the need for finality on judicial matters. Unfortunately, exercising the nuclear option is a zero-sum game. If it’s invoked, debate is dead. If it isn’t, proponents...

President Trump, seeming to relish a fight with Democrats over his nominee for the Supreme Court, on Wednesday encouraged the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, to invoke the so-called nuclear option and abandon the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees. “If we end up with that gridlock, I would say, ‘If you can, Mitch, go nuclear,’” the president said on Wednesday from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. “Because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was put up to that neglect. I would say it’s up to Mitch, but I...

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) insisted on Wednesday that Neil Gorsuch, Trump's Supreme Court pick, will need 60 votes to clear the upper chamber. "We Democrats will insist on a rigorous but fair process. There will be 60 votes for confirmation," he said from the Senate floor. "There will be 60 votes for confirmation." Trump's nomination of the well-respected conservative jurist is kicking off a high-stakes battle in the Senate. Five progressive lawmakers, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), have already come out in opposition to Trump's nominee. Schumer said requiring 60 votes for confirmation of Gorsuch is...

Trump to GOP: "Go nuclear" if SCOTUS nom is deadlocked

Did Joe Manchin just open the door for Republicans to invoke the nuclear option if necessary to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court? In appearances on CNN and MSNBC this morning, Dem Senator Manchin blasted his fellow Dems for having invoked the nuclear option in the first place. Said Manchin on Morning Joe: “I’ve been opposed to the nuclear option. I thought Harry Reid was dead wrong when he did it. I voted against that. My dear beloved senator, prior to my coming here, was Robert C. Byrd and he would be rolling over in his grave knowing what...

Oct 24,2016 Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is predicting a Democratic-majority Senate next year could break out the "nuclear option" to change the rules on Supreme Court nominations.

Senate Democrats are weighing whether to avoid an all-out war to block President Donald Trump's upcoming Supreme Court pick, instead considering delaying that battle for a future nomination that could shift the ideological balance of the court, sources say. Democrats privately discussed their tactics during a closed-door retreat in West Virginia last week. And a number of Democrats are trying to persuade liberal firebrands to essentially let Republicans confirm Trump's pick after a vigorous confirmation process -- since Trump is likely to name a conservative to replace the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. The reason for the tactic: Republicans are...

Senate Democrats have succeeded in delaying for one day a scheduled committee vote on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Steven Mnuchin to be treasury secretary. The Senate Finance Committee said Monday that the meeting to vote on the nomination, which had been scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, will now take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Democrats said they requested the delay to allow lawmakers to attend a candlelight vigil protesting Trump’s travel ban aimed at seven Muslim-majority countries. Mnuchin clashed with Democrats during a lengthy confirmation hearing on Jan. 19. He was accused of failing to protect thousands of homeowners...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened to stonewall Donald Trump’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, telling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Schumer said: “It’s hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we could support.” When Maddow asked, “You will do your best to hold the seat open?” Schumer replied, “Absolutely.” The fact is, Senate Democrats are powerless to stop Trump from appointing and confirming a rock-ribbed conservative to replace Scalia. Here is what Trump should tell Schumer in so uncertain terms: •As you know, I have put out a...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) said Republicans should fight to get President Trump's coming Supreme Court nominee confirmed by any means necessary. Trump has said he will be announcing his choice to fill the late Antonin Scalia's seat on the bench next week. Republicans will need at least eight Democrats to support Trump's nominee to overcome the 60-vote filibuster hurdle. But Cruz suggested the GOP shouldn't rule out the so-called "nuclear option" to reduce the threshold to a majority. The move would be a gamble, setting a precedent that could weaken the GOP's position if Democrats come back into power....

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have one particular judge’s name in mind as they await the identity of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee: Merrick B. Garland. Democrats and their allies remain furious that Senate Republicans refused to even consider Judge Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to the high court, with 10 months remaining in Mr. Obama’s second term. That deep resentment is certain to color their handling of Mr. Trump’s choice just as it has contributed to their resistance to moving quickly on Mr. Trump’s cabinet selections. All indications are that they see the forthcoming nomination as a chance to take...