Democratic senator calls the partisan showdown over Neil Gorsuch 'tragic'

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published 27 March 2017

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons (Del.) revealed Monday on MSNBC's Morning Joe that he's bracing for a political showdown over President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Coons said he doesn't think Gorsuch will get the requisite 60 votes from the Senate to be confirmed, and hypothesized Republicans will "almost certainly" resort to eliminating the Supreme Court nominee filibuster via the "nuclear option" to push him through — a tactic first introduced by Democrats under former President Barack Obama.

While Coons said he understands Democrats' lingering frustrations over Republicans' refusal to grant a hearing to Judge Merrick Garland — who was nominated by Obama to fill the same seat Gorsuch now seeks — he also indicated he is irked by his party's approach and by partisanship in general. "I think this is tragic," Coons said. "In talking to friends on both sides of the aisle, we've got a lot of senators concerned about where we're headed. There's Republicans still very mad at us over the 2013 change to the filibuster rule, we're mad at them about shutting down the government, they're mad at us about Gorsuch, and we are not headed in a good direction. I'm very concerned about where we're headed."

Watch the segment below. Coons' comments about the Gorsuch start at the 2:13 mark. Becca Stanek