Democrats postponed an initial committee vote on President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch Monday.
Any member can call for a nomination to be held the first time it is scheduled, according to Committee rules. As a result, the committee vote will likely happen on April 3.
Republicans could use this time to persuade unsure Democrats to cross the aisle and vote for Gorsuch in the full Senate.
“I understand that the minority would like to hold [him] over,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said during the Committee’s meeting on Monday.
Following the Senate vote, the chamber will then go into recess. Democrats say that Gorsuch should only pass a 60 vote threshold in order to gain approval for a confirmation vote.
“Their latest petty stall tactics on Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court is just another example of the Democrats putting liberal special interests ahead of the voters they represent,” said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement. “Since he was nominated, Judge Gorsuch has received wide bipartisan praise for his intellect, character and deep commitment to upholding the Constitution. There is no legitimate reason to delay his confirmation. It is time for Senate Democrats to stop playing tired political games and allow for an up-or-down vote to confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.”
However, Republicans claim they may change the upper chamber’s rules to enable the “nuclear option” and allow Supreme Court nominees to go through without needing 60 votes to end debate on their nomination and only a simple majority to confirm them instead.
Other nominations the committee is considering are Rod Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general and Rachel Brand to be associate attorney general.
