WASHINGTON — Two Democratic senators on Sunday split over supporting Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana said he would vote in favor of Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation while Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced he would not back the federal appeals…
WASHINGTON — Two Democratic senators on Sunday split over supporting Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana said he would vote in favor of Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation while Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced he would not back the federal appeals court judge based in Denver.
Mr. Donnelly became the third Democrat to break with the party as Republicans line up behind President Donald Trump’s choice for the high court.
With 52 Republican senators, eight votes from Democrats or the Senate’s two independents would be needed to advance the nomination and prevent a filibuster. So far, only Mr. Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — all representing states Mr. Trump won in November and all up for re-election next year — have said they will vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch.
Mr. Tester represents a state won by Mr. Trump and faces re-election, too, but he said Judge Gorsuch did not directly answer questions when the two met or during the confirmation hearing. Mr. Tester said he based his decision on the judge’s past cases, noting that he found troubling Judge Gorsuch’s record on privacy and that he believes Judge Gorsuch places corporations over people.
Mr. Donnelly called Judge Gorsuch, 49, “a qualified jurist who will base his decisions on his understanding of the law and is well-respected among his peers.”
Hours before Mr. Donnelly’s and Mr. Tester’s announcements, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he didn’t expect Judge Gorsuch to receive 60 votes to overcome a filibuster threat.
If Democrats mounted a filibuster, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was expected to seek a change in Senate rules allowing a simple majority of the 100-member Senate to confirm the nomination.
“Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed this week,” Mr. McConnell said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added: “How that happens really depends on our Democratic friends. How many of them are willing to oppose cloture on a partisan basis to kill a Supreme Court nominee.”
Such a change in Senate rules — known as the “nuclear option” — would likely be retained in the future and thus make Supreme Court confirmations more susceptible to simple party-line votes instead of bipartisan support.
The 11th-hour development in the Supreme Court fight came during a busy time in Washington politics.
Mr. Trump brought Sen. Rand Paul to his Virginia golf course on Sunday to talk health policy with the outspoken critic of the failed plan to repeal and replace so-called Obamacare.
The outing to Trump National Golf Club came hours after Mr. Trump tweeted that talks on replacing the law have been going on and “will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck.”
A top adviser to Mr. Trump on Saturday urged the defeat of a Michigan congressman and member of a conservative group of U. S. House lawmakers who derailed the White House on legislation to repeal and replace the Obama-era health care law.
Government ethics lawyers said the tweet by White House social media director Dan Scavino Jr. violated federal law that limits political activity by government employees. The White House denied Mr. Scavino had run afoul of the law.
The future of Medicaid under Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price will soon become clear when the department decides whether Kentucky and Arizona can dramatically revamp their Medicaid expansion efforts.
If Mr. Price’s department grants the requests that include a host of conservative policy changes as expected, the measures would mark the first time in the history of the program that benefits would be capped and Medicaid eligibility would be tied to work requirements.
The Trump administration has sent the American Bar Association into exile, ending the group’s semiofficial role in evaluating candidates for the federal bench.
McClatchy Newspapers and The New York Times contributed.
