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Senate Democrats plan filibuster to stop Gorsuch confirmation to Supreme Court

Judge Neil Gorsuch testifies during the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2017.
Judge Neil Gorsuch testifies during the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2017.
(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)
By David Lauter
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Democrats plan a filibuster against Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, setting up a Senate fight that they are almost certain to eventually lose.

The long-expected announcement of the filibuster plan came from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). In a message on Twitter, Schumer said that Gorsuch would “face a cloture vote,” referring to the Senate process for filibusters.

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Democratic vote counters are confident they have more than the 40 votes needed to sustain a filibuster, at least for a time. Currently, 48 senators caucus with the Democrats, including two who were elected as independents.

That leaves Senate Republicans with two paths they could use to confirm Gorsuch.

One option would be to have repeated cloture votes to test whether some Democrats, especially those from states carried by Trump in the presidential election, might break ranks after a symbolic vote or two.

The other option would be to move immediately to change Senate rules to allow a confirmation with only 51 votes.

Democrats already set the precedent for changing the rules in 2013, when they voted to require only a simple majority to confirm all presidential appointments other than Supreme Court justices. At the time, Republicans protested, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has strongly hinted he would follow suit if needed to get Gorsuch confirmed.

One issue for McConnell will be whether some veteran Republican senators are reluctant to change the filibuster rule without at least going through the motions of trying to gain 60 votes for cloture. McConnell has said he wants to get Gorsuch confirmed before the Senate takes its Easter recess, scheduled to begin April 6.

The move to a filibuster does not come as a surprise. Democratic senators have been under intense pressure from activist groups in the party to fight the Gorsuch nomination even if, ultimately, they’re doomed to lose.

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David Lauter

David Lauter writes the Saturday Los Angeles Times Politics newsletter from Washington, D.C. He began writing news in Washington in 1981 and has covered Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and six U.S. presidential campaigns. He served as Washington bureau chief from 2011-20. Lauter lived in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2011, where he was The Times’ deputy Foreign editor, deputy Metro editor and then assistant managing editor responsible for California coverage.

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