This week, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee conducted confirmation hearings for Neil Gorsuch, the 49-year-old 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge nominated by President Donald J. Trump to fill the vacant seat on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch, if confirmed, will fill the seat left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away last year.
Despite positive support from both sides of the political spectrum for Gorsuch — who weathered his three-day hearing with poise — Senate Democrats are still threatening to filibuster his confirmation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made it clear on Thursday morning that Gorsuch would have to earn the required sixty votes needed to trigger cloture and end a Democrat filibuster. The senior U.S. Senator from New York tweeted:
Judge Gorsuch’s nomination will face a cloture vote & as I’ve said, he will have to earn sixty votes for confirmation. My vote will be “No.”
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