Gavel Grab: Gorsuch Nomination Passes Judiciary Committee on Party Line Vote

GORSUCH NOMINATION PASSES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee today on a party-line vote of 11-9, reported USA Today. 41 Democratic senators have now come out to oppose Gorsuch’s nomination and vote no on cloture, leaving Gorsuch unable to clear the 60 vote threshold. His nomination will come before the full Senate for a vote later this week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “has publicly promised to confirm Gorsuch on Friday no matter what,” meaning that “McConnell will invoke the nuclear option to lower that hurdle to 51 votes to make it happen,” reported NPR.

The talking point that Senate Democrats are somehow “to blame for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s threat to change the rules and allow Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to be confirmed by a simple majority vote” is false, according to Media Matters for America. “In fact, past Senate rule changes effectuated by Democrats have not applied to Supreme Court nominees, and they were made in response to historic GOP obstruction of noncontroversial Obama nominees. Gorsuch, on the other hand, is considered to be a highly ideological nominee who falls to the right of Antonin Scalia.”