“He’ll be on the floor of the Senate next week and confirmed on Friday,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. | Getty McConnell guarantees Gorsuch will be confirmed on April 7

Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed to the Supreme Court on April 7, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell guaranteed on Tuesday.

“He’ll be on the floor of the Senate next week and confirmed on Friday,” McConnell told reporters. “We are optimistic that [Democrats] will not be successful in keeping this good man from joining the Supreme Court real soon.”


The cagey Senate majority leader refused to say that he would do it via the “nuclear option” — a unilateral change in rules to kill the Senate’s 60-vote threshold on Supreme Court nominees. But McConnell also declined to rule out whipping 50 of his 52 members to change the rules if Democrats deny Gorsuch the required 60 votes to end a filibuster.

“We’re going to get Judge Gorsuch confirmed,” McConnell said. “It’ll really be up to [Democrats] how the process to confirm Judge Gorsuch moves forward.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded that it’s unfair for McConnell to heap blame on Democrats for a rules change, arguing that President Donald Trump should have picked a less conservative nominee.

“It’s going to be on [McConnell's shoulders and only on his shoulders. Let’s not forget,” Schumer said. “This is the man who broke 230 years of precedent and held Judge Garland up for a year and a half and now is complaining? Doesn’t really wash.”