The Senate will vote on Neil Gorsuch's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday morning at approximately 11:45 AM ET, about seven hours earlier than necessary. "In fact, I am confident we will", said Sen.
The long-anticipated rules change now means that all presidential nominees for executive branch positions and the federal courts need only a simple majority vote to be confirmed by senators.
Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of engaging in an "unprecedented partisan filibuster" of a Supreme Court nominee.
The Senate Republicans, led by McConnell, steadfastly refused to act on Obama's nominee, reasoning that the next president should nominate the next justice. He told reporters that he views his refusal to fill Scalia's seat, which was initially questioned by some fellow Republicans, as "the most consequential decision I've ever been involved in". Many in Kentucky wanted President Trump to make this nomination, and they wanted the Senate to confirm that individual.
When asked by TMN on Friday if the Democratic filibuster was merely preparation for when a seat opens up that could change the ideological composition of the court, McConnell responded: "I don't know".
Three justices - Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg - are at least 78.
While the court's political leaning is expected to look the same as it did when Scalia served, the court's partisan breakdown could change if liberal justices such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Steven Breyer - who are 84 and 78, respectively - retire or die during Trump's presidency.
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A day before releasing his statement, Munoz emailed all United employees and said he stood behind the security guards' actions. One of Dao's children, Crystal Pepper, said the family was "horrified, shocked and sickened" by what happened.
Gorsuch, 49, was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991 picked Clarence Thomas, who was 43 at the time.
Gorsuch was on a list of potential justices recommended by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation during the campaign, and some Republicans even credit the Supreme Court vacancy as one reason Trump won the November election. In exit polls, 21 percent of voters called Supreme Court appointments "the most important factor" for their votes, and among those people 56 percent voted for Trump. "So it is indeed a proud day", McConnell said.
After the tragic passing of Justice Antonin Scalia previous year, I promised that the Supreme Court vacancy would not be filled in the middle of a hotly contested presidential election. In 2012, for example, Democratic candidates for the US House of Representatives won 1.4 million more votes, but Republicans won 33 more seats.
"In many cases, the Supreme Court is the last resort for everyday Americans seeking fairness and justice against forces much larger than themselves", said Minority Leader Sen.
Frustrated Democrats grudgingly acknowledged that McConnell got what he wanted and delivered for his party, even as they insisted that the damage done to the Senate in the process would not quickly be forgotten. If the justices are divided 4 to 4 in any of them, the most likely route to breaking a ties would be to schedule a new round of arguments, with Gorsuch participating.
While Gorsuch will not be the only court justice who has failed to obtain a 60 vote super-majority, he will be the first for which the majority party changes the rules of the Senate to invoke cloture, end a filibuster, and confirm him.
Supreme Court filibusters have been almost unheard of in the Senate, but the confrontation is playing out amid an explosive political atmosphere with liberal Democrats furious over the Trump presidency and Republicans desperate to get a win after months of chaos from Trump.
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