VP Pence: “The nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch of Colorado to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is confirmed.” pic.twitter.com/y3FxmMUaMO
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 7, 2017
Thanks to the Republicans’ use of the “nuclear option,” Neil Gorsuch is now a member of the Supreme Court. The chamber voted 54-45 to confirm the 49-year-old Denver-based judge, making him the ninth Supreme Court Justice and replacing Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February of 2016. The Republicans moved to change Senate rules in an effort to push Gorsuch, althrough the process was considered a last-resort option to bypass a Democratic filibuster. Now, Gorsuch is set to serve on the Supreme Court for what could be a 30-plus year term.
On Monday, Gorsuch will be sworn in as the 113th person to ever sit on the Supreme Court. The private ceremony will be led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who will administer the Constitutional Oath. Later in the day, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy will administer the Judicial Oath at public ceremony at the White House.
In early February, President Trump warned that if the Democrats attempted to filibuster the nomination of Gorsuch, he would implore Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans to use the “nuclear” option, meaning that Gorsuch could be confirmed with only 51 votes, instead of the usual 60 that are generally required to break a filibuster. Fast forward to this week when the Democrats did indeed block the Gorsuch vote, resulting in the warned action by McConnell and his crew. By blowing the entire process up, the GOP has now changed the Senate rules forever.
(Via ABC News & New York Times)