The Atlantic

Going Nuclear for Neil Gorsuch

Democratic senators have 41 votes to block President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, setting up a standoff to rewrite the Senate’s filibuster rules.
Source: Aaron Bernstein / Reuters

Updated at 4:18 p.m. ET

Senate Democrats said Monday they have the required 41 votes to sustain a filibuster against Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation.

Assuming none of the 41 senators change their minds before the final vote later this week, the Senate’s Republican majority will almost certainly invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to rewrite the legislative chamber’s rules and place Gorsuch on the nation’s highest court.

Democrats crossed the fateful threshold during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Monday, where senators

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