TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Apr 6, 2017

Senate Republicans deployed the “nuclear option” today, permanently changing rules to bypass a Democratic filibuster and clear the way for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to be confirmed by a simple majority vote, the New York Times reports. Republicans needed 60 votes to confirm Gorsuch without changing the rules, but could only secure 55, leading to the rule change. Knoxnews confirms that Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker voted in support of the change.