WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should “go nuclear” if necessary to approve his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
What does that mean?
It’s a reference to the “nuclear option.” That is the nickname for a potential move by Republicans to unilaterally change Senate rules so that Gorsuch’s nomination could be approved with a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, instead of the 60 votes now required.
IT’S HAPPENED BEFORE
This procedural maneuver has recent precedent. In 2013, when Democrats were in the majority under the leadership of then-Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, they pushed through a rules change lowering the vote threshold on all nominees except for the Supreme Court from 60 to a simple majority.