Story highlights Gorsuch was nominated by President Trump Tuesday night

His first phone call was to Judge Merrick Garland, nominated to the Supreme Court last year but never voted on by the Senate

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Senate Republicans should "go for it" and invoke the so-called nuclear option, preventing Democrats from using a filibuster to block his Supreme Court nominee.

"If we end up with that gridlock I would say if you can, Mitch, go nuclear," Trump said of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "That would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web."

"It's up to Mitch, but I would say go for it," Trump added.

Trump's comment came as he sat down with groups supporting his Supreme Court nominee, federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, and answered a question from a reporter about early Democratic opposition to Gorsuch's nomination to the bench.

Invoking the nuclear option, as it is called on Capitol Hill, would end the need for Supreme Court nominees to receive 60 votes to break a filibuster and proceed to an up-or-down vote on the nomination that only requires a majority to confirm. Both Republicans and Democrats have long resisted doing so as it would change the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees in the future as well.

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