Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn insisted the Republicans' decision to enact the "nuclear option" to kill the filibuster of Supreme Court nominees was a return to the status quo.

Republicans' motion to invoke cloture and end debate on Judge Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination failed along partisan lines on Thursday, meaning Democrats succeeded at filibustering Gorsuch. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded by deploying the "nuclear option," lowering the vote threshold required to confirm Gorsuch to 51 votes.

Soon after the Senate rules were altered, Cornyn took to the floor to insist that Republicans had merely returned the Senate to regular order.

"The Senate has just restored itself to an almost unbroken tradition of never filibustering judges," Cornyn said on the Senate floor Thursday. "We have restored the status quo."

Debate on Gorsuch's nomination will end Friday, when Republicans, including Cornyn, have pledged to confirm Gorsuch to the high court.