President Trump endorsed using the "nuclear option" if necessary to get his Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch approved.
"I would say it's up to [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch [McConnell], but I would say go for it," Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
The "nuclear option" refers to a political move to abolish the filibuster and passing a vote that normally requires a supermajority with a simple majority. Republicans have enough votes for the latter but not the former.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently called on Senate Democrats to block the nominee by requiring at least 60-votes to confirm Gorsuch, which is essentially filibustering.
But now, some Democrats already say they want to give Gorsuch a chance.
"Let's follow the process," Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said. "Let's do what didn’t happen last year. Let’s have a hearing. Let the American people understand this man’s views, record, background. See where we go from there.”
If all we do is continue to exact a pound of flesh from each other, then we will eventually strip our republic bare to the bone.
Coons said Democrats should not block Gorsuch's hearing simply to seek revenge for Republicans blocking hearings for Merrick Garland, who was nominated by former President Obama. Republicans ensured Garland never got a hearing.
Manchin on SCOTUS: "I'm not going to filibuster anybody."
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 31, 2017
At least six other senators have said they may not filibuster, Politico reports.
This is a stolen seat....We will use every lever in our power to stop this.
Schumer said his party would "fight tooth and nail" to block a Supreme Court nominee that wasn't deemed mainstream.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sent out a petition on Monday urging colleagues to block any hearings as retaliation for Republicans' treatment of Garland.
