April 06, 2017 09:44 AM UTC

Senate Officially Goes "Nuclear" to Push Gorsuch Confirmation

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Republicans officially go nuclear:

Senators voted on Thursday to advance Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, setting up a final confirmation vote on Friday.

By a vote of to 55 to 45, all Republicans and three Democrats voted to proceed to final debate on the nomination of Gorsuch, 49, a Denver-based judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. If confirmed, Gorsuch would replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died unexpectedly last year, sparking a more than year-long feud among senators about the future makeup of the high court.

Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) was one of four Democrats voting to end a filibuster, though Bennet did vote “NO” on the nuclear option. Senator Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) voted in support of the nuclear option.

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From the Washington Post:

Democrats successfully blocked Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court from advancing in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, sparking what is expected to be a bitter clash with Republicans over how the chamber confirms high court nominees.

Gorsuch failed to earn the 60 votes needed to end debate on his nomination. In response, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed he will change Senate rules in order to confirm Gorsuch and all future Supreme Court nominees with a simple majority vote.

A final confirmation vote on Gorsuch is not scheduled until Friday, when 52 Republicans and at least three Democrats — from states won by Trump in last year’s election — are expected to vote to have him replace the late Antonin Scalia on the high court.

But the next 24 hours could be among the most bitter in recent Senate history.

“This will be the first and last partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nomination,” McConnell (R-Ky.) vowed Thursday morning.