McConnell says he has the votes to scrap Supreme Court filibuster in Gorsuch standoff

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday afternoon that he was confident he had the votes to change the body’s rules if Democrats go through with their threat to filibuster President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.

McConnell downplayed the significance of that change, even as other members of his caucus have said it would damage the Senate and lead to a more ideological, partisan Supreme Court.

“The practical effect of all of this would be to take us back to where we were before Sen. Schumer convinced Democrats to routinely filibuster judges,” McConnell said, referring to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

McConnell said that before the year 2000, the Senate rarely had trouble finding 60 votes to end debate on judges. Even Justice Clarence Thomas avoided a filibuster in the ’90s, though only 52 senators voted for his nomination, McConnell noted.

The Kentucky lawmaker also pushed back against critics who argue that the Senate would next dispense with the 60-vote cloture standard for legislation, which could turn the slower and more deliberative body into a fast-moving organ of whichever party is in power.

“There’s not a single senator in the majority who thinks we ought to change the legislative filibuster, not one,” McConnell said. “We all understand that’s what makes the Senate the Senate.”

The leader said that the 60-vote cloture rule on nominees like Gorsuch was not as important a feature as the 60-vote threshold for bills.

Still, McConnell’s relative nonchalance about changing the rules contrasts with the comments of some of his Republican colleagues, who have said they have grave concerns. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Bloomberg that he believes the change would “destroy” the Senate, as the legislative filibuster could be the next to go. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Monday that the change would lead to more idealogical judges, though he blamed Democrats for forcing the issue.

McConnell declined to comment when asked by a reporter whether he agreed with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that anyone who thinks this rules change will make the Senate a better place is a “stupid idiot.”

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., blamed Democrats on Tuesday, saying they were the ones invoking the “nuclear option” by filibustering Gorsuch. “We think the nuclear option is filibustering the Supreme Court nominee,” he said.

But Schumer told reporters Tuesday that Republicans could avoid going “nuclear” by changing the nominee to a “consensus” pick. He said the two major parties would then be even, since Republicans torpedoed President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, last year, refusing to hold hearings or a vote.

“We lost one, they lost one,” Schumer said. “We should now get in a room and come up with a compromise to avoid the nuclear option that so many Republicans are reluctant to take.”

Schumer portrayed McConnell as ruthless in his willingness to change the way the Senate operates.

“Mitch McConnell will virtually do anything, anything … to get his way on the court,” Schumer said.

The cloture vote will likely be Thursday. If Democrats carry through with their threat to filibuster, Republicans are expected to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees and take a floor vote on Gorsuch on Friday. Both votes would take just 51 senators to pass.

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