Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday that he doesn’t believe there is enough support in the Senate for Judge Neil Gorsuch to overcome a Democratic filibuster of his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to vote on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination Monday, said Republicans are likely going to have to decide whether they want to rewrite the rules of the Senate to approve President Trump’s pick through a simple majority vote.
“The path to 60 votes I think is very, very, very slim,” the Connecticut Democrat said on CNN’s “New Day.” “In fact, I think doing the numbers now, there is nowhere near 60 votes.”
The full Senate is expected to take up Judge Gorsuch’s nomination later this week.
Mr. Blumenthal said he plans to vote against Judge Gorsuch because he refused to say whether he agrees with precedent-setting cases — including Roe v. Wade and Brown v. the Board of Education.
“The Republican leadership will have to decide whether it is going to embark on this profoundly historic disruptive step,” he said of the possible rule change, known as the “nuclear” option. “I think a lot of my Republican colleagues are having misgivings, and my Democratic colleagues are increasingly determined because Neil Gorsuch was so evasive in his responses to questions.”
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Mr. Blumenthal also said he doesn’t think Democrats would be better off waiting to use the filibuster against future Supreme Court nominees that could be more controversial.
“To say that this nominee, because he seems bland and non-threatening, is less important than the next one, I think is a mistake,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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