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The Latest: Senate debate on Gorsuch is under way

FILE - In this March 21, 2017 file photo, Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A divided Senate Judiciary Committee backed Gorsuch, Monday, April 3, 2017. GOP likely to change Senate rules to confirm him. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) FILE - In this March 21, 2017 file photo, Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A divided Senate Judiciary Committee backed Gorsuch, Monday, April 3, 2017. GOP likely to change Senate rules to confirm him. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

By Associated Press April 4, 2017 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on the Senate debate on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch (all times local):

11 a.m.

Debate on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee is under way, and Republican and Democratic leaders are casting blame.

Democrats have secured the votes to block the nomination, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is poised to change longstanding Senate rules to confirm Neil Gorsuch.

McConnell says the Democrats’ blockade is unprecedented, because there’s “never been a successful partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee.”

But Democrats point out that McConnell blocked former President Barack Obama’s nominee for the court last year, saying the next president should have the say. Republicans didn’t give Judge Merrick Garland a hearing or a vote.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said: “What the majority leader did to Merrick Garland by denying him a hearing and a vote is even worse than a filibuster.”