Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed that Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed before the April 8 recess, one way or the other. | AP Photo McConnell: If Gorsuch can’t be confirmed, who can?

If Neil Gorsuch can’t get 60 votes in today's Senate, perhaps no Republican Supreme Court nominee can, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

“I haven’t seen a single Democrat … indicate they were prepared to either for cloture or to vote for him,” McConnell told reporters. “If Judge Gorsuch can’t achieve 60 votes in the Senate, could any judge appointed by a Republican president be approved with 60 or more votes in the Senate?”


The Kentucky Republican’s comments underscore just how popular Gorsuch is among Republicans amid an otherwise shaky first two months under Donald Trump’s White House. But they also expose a potentially troubling problem for the GOP: No Democrats have announced support for Gorsuch, and he needs at least eight Democratic votes.

“If they don’t find Gorsuch acceptable, are they taking the position that the vacancy should never be filled at all? Last year they were complaining about there being a vacancy for roughly a year,” McConnell said, referring to Democratic outrage over the majority leader’s decision to ignore Merrick Garland’s nomination.

McConnell then again suggested that because of the past treatment of nominees under Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, the Senate minority should consider not even requiring 60 votes for Gorsuch’s confirmation to break a filibuster.

With Democrats still upset about Garland's treatment and growing opposition to Gorsuch's conservative credentials there will be no such luck, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“The bottom line is that I believe we need 60 votes,” Schumer said. “Any one member can ask for 60 votes, it’s going to happen.”

The Democratic leader said that in his view, Gorsuch has made a “very poor impression” on Democrats during his first two days of hearings through evasive answers.

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But if Schumer lines up his caucus to block Gorsuch, McConnell could try to change the Senate rules via a simple majority — the “nuclear option” — and kill the 60-vote threshold on high court nominees.

Neither senator would entertain that possibility, but McConnell guaranteed that Gorsuch will be confirmed before the April 8 recess, one way or the other.

“We’ll confirm him before we leave,” McConnell vowed.