Republicans Prepare “Nuclear Option” To Force Gorsuch Confirmation

FEATURING ARI BERMAN – Senate Democrats and Republicans are in a major confrontation over the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch. Precedent demands that nominees receive at least 60 votes to be confirmed to the nation’s highest court.

But Democrats, bitter that President Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland would not even receive a hearing last year, have decided to filibuster the vote. Their progressive constituents have offered strong grassroots support for such action, pointing out Gorsuch’s dangerous viewpoints.

Now, Republicans plan to use the so-called “nuclear option,” which would change nomination requirements to a “simple majority,” overturning precedent.

Read Ari Berman’s article in The Nation about Gorsuch HERE. Follow Ari’s work at www.thenation.com, www.ari-berman.com and on Twitter @ariberman.

Ari Berman is a contributing writer for The Nation magazine and an Investigative Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute. His new book is called Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. His latest article in The Nation is entitled, “The Democratic Filibuster of Neil Gorsuch Is On”.