Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, says a filibuster would not be „out of line with Senate tradition,“ while Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says he’s confident the Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed<\/b>
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, says a filibuster would not be \u201cout of line with Senate tradition,\u201d while Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, says he\u2019s confident the Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed.
King, who caucuses with the Democrats, said he has not yet decided whether or not he\u2019ll vote for Gorsuch — and that he doesn\u2019t see a filibuster as \u201cout of line with Senate tradition,\u201d particularly given how Republicans blocked Judge Merrick Garland\u2019s nomination last year.
\u201cLast year, Merrick Garland was subjected to what I would call the grandaddy of all filibusters: not even allowed to have a hearing, much less a vote, went on for something like 11 months,\u201d King said.
\u201cThe idea of a 60-vote requirement for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court doesn\u2019t strike me as out of line with Senate tradition,\u201d he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has said Democrats plan to filibuster Gorsuch\u2019s nomination, meaning he would need 60 votes in order to be confirmed. Republicans have 52 seats in the Senate, and thus far two Democrats have announced they will vote for Gorsuch : Sens. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota — both facing tough reelection battles in 2018. Were Democrats to filibuster, Republicans have talked about changing the Senate rules so Gorsuch could still be confirmed.
Responding to Heitkamp\u2019s suggestion that \u201ctwo wrongs don\u2019t make a right\u201d when it comes to blocking Supreme Court nominees, King said something as important as a lifetime appointment to the nation\u2019s highest court should have \u201csome level\u201d of bipartisan approval.
\u201cWhat I\u2019m suggesting is I think the 60-vote margin requires some level of bipartisanship,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd whether it\u2019s on legislation or on a major appointment like this, that isn\u2019t bad for the country that you have to have people and ideas that have some level of buy-in from both parties.\u201d
Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, said he\u2019s confident Gorsuch will be confirmed, saying Democrats\u2019 potential filibuster would be \u201cunprecedented in American history.\u201d (He did not make mention of Republicans\u2019 successful efforts to block Garland\u2019s nomination.)
\u201cJudge Gorsuch will be confirmed this week one way or another,\u201d Cornyn said. \u201cI hope the Democrats will provide the 60 votes.\u201d
He praised Gorsuch as an ideal Supreme Court nominee, and said the only reason Democrats object to him is because he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
\u201cNeil Gorsuch I think is the kind of nominee that our Democratic friends really haven\u2019t been able to find any real fault with — except that he was nominated by this president,\u201d Cornyn said.
\u201cIf they filibuster Neil Gorsuch, they\u2019re going to filibuster everyone that this president might propose,\u201d Cornyn added.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Gorsuch\u2019s nomination on Monday, setting the stage for a vote in the full Senate later this week.<\/p>\n

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