"The next one, one way or another, can change the court pretty dramatically. If I was the Democrats, I would have concentrated on that," he told reporters on Friday. "For the life of me, I don't know why Democrats made such a fuss about this one. They look stupid."

Hatch made the comment after Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to get rid of filibusters for Supreme Court nominees, allowing them to be confirmed faster and with a simple majority vote. The change came after Democrats and Independents voted to block Gorsuch's nomination.



Hatch, a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, added that he expects the next Supreme Court vacancy to be "armageddon."

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Gorsuch will fill the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia's death, reestablishing the Supreme Court's previous 5-4 conservative majority.

But Trump could be able to make multiple additional nominations, allowing him to shape the direction of the court for decades.

Two justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy, are in their 80s, and Justice Stephen Breyer is 78.

Hatch added on Thursday that were Trump to appoint another justice, he could keep the Supreme Court in a "conservative mood for a long time."

Senators in both parties voiced concerns about what eliminating the filibuster would mean for the future of the Supreme Court, speculating that it could lead to presidents nominating more partisan jurists.

A group of roughly 10 senators engaged in around-the-clock negotiations to try to avoid having to use the "nuclear option," but they ultimately failed.

Progressive groups also vocally pushed Democratic senators to avoid confirming Gorsuch, arguing that Republicans could not be trusted to not go nuclear during the next nomination.

Asked whether he would have voted for the nuclear option during the next vacancy if Democrats chose that moment instead to fight, Hatch responded, "Well, sure."

"I mean, I might as well be honest about it, but the fact that is they would have a better chance of influencing public opinion on it," he said.

The ninth seat on the Supreme Court has been vacant since Scalia's death early last year. Republicans refused to give Merrick Garland, former President Obama's nominee, a hearing or a vote, leaving a lingering bitterness among Democrats.

Hatch dismissed a charge from progressives senators that the GOP "stole" a Supreme Court seat

"Oh, give me a break," he said. "The fact of the matter is that they lost in the election, and they were counting on that seat.

"They didn't get it, and so naturally there's some raw feelings about that."