U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner says he will support using a Senate rule popularly known as the “nuclear option” to break a filibuster to ensure that Judge Neil Gorsuch is confirmed to the Supreme Court.
This means that Democrats will go bonkers and start screaming how it should never be done, they’ve never done it, blah, blah, blah.
So it’s time for a quick history lesson.
Democrats used the “nuclear option” to pass Obamacare. Democrats have used the “nuclear option” to confirm judges.
It’s a Senate rule, after all, it’s just rarely used. Thus the nickname “nuclear option.”
The Constitution only requires a two-thirds majority vote to ratify treaties or to add a constitutional amendment.
Under the Constitution’s Appointment Clause, it does not require a super majority vote to appoint judges.
The need for the “nuclear option” is clear — Democrats are threatening to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee simply because he was nominated by President Trump.
The threat of going four or even eight years with a vacant seat on the Supreme Court is a solid reason to use this Senate rule, and to this we say, go Cory!