WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court has put Senate Democrats in a vise.
Voters from the liberal base apoplectic over Trump’s presidency are demanding opposition at any cost. But all-out war on a well-qualified nominee could alienate independent voters who will be crucial in next year’s midterm elections, when Senate Democrats are defending a daunting 23 seats, including 10 in states Trump won.
Also threatening Democrats: the very real possibility that if they do try to block Gorsuch, a conservative 49-year-old federal appeals court judge with sterling credentials, Republicans will use their narrow Senate advantage to unilaterally change the rules and push through his nomination with a simple majority vote, instead of the 60 now required.
The dynamics offer no clear end game for Democrats, putting them on defense and Republicans on offense for the first time in Trump’s presidency.
“It is not easy for any of us,” said Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, noting that in addition to anger over Trump, many Democrats are still smarting over the treatment last year of former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, who never got a hearing from Republicans as they held the Supreme Court vacancy open for the next president to fill.