Democrats Claim Nearly Enough Votes To Block Gorsuch – For Now

WASHINGTON (AP) — A starkly divided Senate panel on Monday weighed President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, with Republicans casting Neil Gorsuch as a fiercely independent judge and Democrats complaining that his testimony "diluted with ambiguity" makes him the wrong choice.

The Republican-led Judiciary Committee was expected to back Gorsuch and send his nomination to the full Senate, most likely on a near-party line vote.

Later on, intent on getting Trump's pick on the high court — and securing a much-needed win for his party and the new president — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is likely to change Senate rules so that Gorsuch can be confirmed with a simple majority in the 100-seat chamber instead of the 60 votes now required.

Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, strongly defended the Denver-based appeals court judge as a fair and independent man. He said Democrats had worked to try and find fault with him, but "that fault will not stick."

"He's a mainstream judge who's earned the universal respect of his colleagues on the bench and in the bar," Grassley said. "He applies the law as we in Congress write it_as the judicial oath says, without respect to persons. And he refuses to compromise his independence."

However, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the panel, said Gorsuch's answers during two days of questioning before the committee were "diluted with ambiguity." She announced her opposition to the nominee.

"Judge Gorsuch's views were difficult to discern because he refused to answer questions, even basic questions that had been answered by previous nominees," Feinstein said.

As of Monday morning, 39 Democrats and one independent have announced they will vote to block the nomination on a procedural cloture vote — a parliamentary step to advance the nomination — and oppose the choice.

Feinstein, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Mark Warner of Virginia all said for the first time Monday that they'd vote to block. On Sunday, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who is up for re-election next year in a state Trump won handily, announced his opposition on Sunday.

"With Judge Gorsuch on the bench, I am deeply concerned that dark money will continue to drown out the voices and votes of citizens, the court will stand between women and their doctors, and the government will reach into the private lives of law-abiding Americans. These are not Montana values, which is why I cannot support this nomination," Tester said in a statement.

But another Democrat in a Republican-dominated state up for re-election next year, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, announced he would support the president's nominee Sunday. Donnelly called Gorsuch, 49, "a qualified jurist who will base his decisions on his understanding of the law and is well-respected among his peers."

Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, have vowed to block the nominee, infuriating Republicans, who argue the action is exceedingly rare for Supreme Court choices. Schumer said Sunday he didn't expect Gorsuch to receive the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster threat.

Although a change in Senate rules might seem procedural or obscure, it is known on Capitol Hill as the "nuclear option" because it would amount to a dramatic departure from Senate norms of bipartisanship and collegiality. It could also mean that Trump and future presidents will not have to be as concerned about compromising with the minority party when nominating Supreme Court justices.

It would not be unprecedented. In 2013, Democrats were in the majority and upset about appellate court nominees being blocked by Republicans. They pushed through a rules change lowering the vote threshold on all nominees except for the Supreme Court from 60 votes to a simple majority.

In addition to Gorsuch, the Judiciary Committee is considering two other nominations — Rod Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general and Rachel Brand to be associate attorney general. If confirmed, they will be the No. 2 and No. 3 officials at the Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.