Trump to Senate: Scrap rules if needed to confirm Gorsuch
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump urged the Senate’s Republican leader on Wednesday to resort to the “nuclear option” of scrapping longstanding chamber rules if needed to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, an aggressive opening to what’s shaping up as a ferocious clash over the future of the high court.
At the White House a day after nominating Gorsuch, Trump endorsed a scenario that would involve majority Republicans unilaterally changing Senate rules over the objections of the Democratic minority.
It could come into play if Democrats try to block Gorsuch’s confirmation with a filibuster, as the liberal base is demanding, and would allow the GOP to confirm Gorsuch with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes now needed.
Addressing GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell from the White House, Trump said, “If we end up with that gridlock I would say, ‘If you can, Mitch, go nuclear.’” He said of Gorsuch that it “would be a absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web.”