WASHINGTON, D.C., March 23, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, plans to lead a Democrat filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.
“After careful deliberation, I have concluded that I cannot support Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court,” Schumer said this morning. “His nomination will have a cloture vote. He will have to earn 60 votes for confirmation. My vote will be 'no' and I urge my colleagues to do the same.”
Chuck Schumer will vote no on Gorsuch: pic.twitter.com/S64kpQxH3A
— Axios (@axios) March 23, 2017
This means Republicans will need to convince eight Democrats to vote in favor of confirming Gorsuch. If they are able to do that, Gorsuch will have 60 votes, a requirement for overcoming a filibuster.
Republicans may change procedural rules so that Gorsuch only needs 51 votes to be confirmed.
Throughout Gorsuch's confirmation hearings, Democrats have grilled him on Roe v. Wade and same-sex “marriage.” They have also questioned him about physician-assisted suicide, about which he wrote a book. Gorsuch's statement that “the intentional taking of a human life by private persons is always wrong” has come under fire from abortion and physician-assisted suicide-supporting Democrats.
Gorsuch has continually said he won't share how he would rule on future cases because that would be like making a “campaign promise.” He has said same-sex “marriage” is “absolutely settled law” and that some people have come to reply upon it, which is an argument that can be used to defend precedent.
However, throughout the hearings, Gorsuch has also affirmed that laws and Court rulings may be challenged.