Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court Friday following a Senate rule change this week allowing him to be confirmed by a simple majority.
Gorsuch will fill the Supreme Court's ninth judicial seat, which has been vacant since the sudden death of former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February of past year.
The Supreme Court seat was controversial before Trump was even elected, as Democrats have long believed that the seat was "stolen" by Republicans due to the fact that Scalia died during the a year ago of Barack Obama's presidency, which would give him the power to nominate a justice.
In this instance, the Republican-controlled Senate voted to bypass a rule requiring a three-fifths majority (at least 60 votes) to end debate before the confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee can take place.
The Senate's 52 Republicans threatened to use the nuclear option to break the filibuster and did so on Thursday. There is no way to know how many there will be, if any, but several justices are quite elderly.
As expected, the Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday with Sen. The maneuvering played out in a tense Senate chamber Thursday with most members in their seats, a rare and theatrical occurrence. Democrats accused Gorsuch of being so conservative as to be outside the judicial mainstream, favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans in legal opinions, and displaying insufficient independence from Trump. Senators like Elizabeth Warren noted that they shouldn't be holding any confirmation votes at all when the President is under active investigation by the FBI.
Gorsuch takes first of 2 oaths before joining Supreme Court
Kennedy's presence was symbolic personally for Gorsuch, who served as a clerk for Kennedy and considers him a mentor. And it is possible the court may reveal that it is deadlocked on several cases it already has heard this term.
A bipartisan group of 61 senators sent a letter to Senate leaders Friday urging them to maintain the 60-vote threshold for filibusters involving legislation, which they said is needed to ensure bipartisanship remains a component of passing bills through the chamber.
McConnell was overruled, but he appealed the ruling. Orrin Hatch among those paving the way in a largely party line vote.
The move ended the minority party's ability to filibuster appointments to the Supreme Court, which had never been exercised before Gorsuch's nomination.
The developments were accompanied by unusually bitter accusations and counter-accusations.
"Today, Senate Republicans completed the judicial coup they launched last February", Sen.
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