Sen. John Cornyn suggested Wednesday that President Trump could barnstorm the states he won and where Senate Democrats face re-election in 2018 in order to help secure 60 votes to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch, the president’s newly announced Supreme Court nominee.
Mr. Cornyn, the No. 2-ranking Republican in the Senate, said 10 Democrats are up for re-election next year in states Mr. Trump carried in 2016.
“I think they’re going to be looking out for their own interests. I think, perhaps, they’ll provide those 60 votes along with Republicans to confirm this good, and really outstanding, nominee,” Mr. Cornyn, Texas Republican, said on Fox News.
“I think our new president would be eager to go to the states he carried in the election on November the 8th where these Democrats are running for re-election in 2018 and make the case,” he said. “So I think he can use his powers of persuasion and his popularity in those states to help us get those 60 votes.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said Judge Gorsuch will get confirmed. But he has been tight-lipped about whether he could deploy the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for sustaining a filibuster if Republicans can’t attract enough Democrats to get there.
The GOP currently holds an effective 52-48 majority in the Senate.
“This judge is going to be confirmed one way or the other,” Mr. Cornyn said Wednesday.
“If Chuck Schumer and the Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren wing of the party are going to tell these people to vote to block President Trump’s outstanding pick for the Supreme Court, they’re going to have to pay a political price,” he said.
“And I’m sure they’re calculating just how much they want to go with their leadership, or how much they want to go with this outstanding pick and their voters in their state,” Mr. Cornyn said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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