Sen. Claire McCaskill's to withhold support for Gorsuch moves the Senate closer to a confrontation next week over the chamber's rules. | AP Photo McCaskill 'no' on Gorsuch moves Senate toward nuclear fight

Moderate Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill will vote to filibuster Neil Gorsuch, becoming the 36th Democratic senator to vow to block President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee from confirmation.

McCaskill's announcement Friday pushes the Senate ever-closer to a major confrontation next week over the chamber's rules. If Democrats can secure five more votes to deny Gorsuch the 60 votes he needs to advance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is likely to gut the supermajority requirement on Supreme Court nominees using the “nuclear option.”


Republicans had hoped people like McCaskill, who is up for reelection in a conservative state next year, would come around to supporting Gorsuch given her state's backing for Trump. And McCaskill privately fretted at a fundraiser last week that blocking Gorsuch would have dire implications for Democrats if McConnell changes the rules and another Supreme Court vacancy opens up with Trump as president.

But ultimately McCaskill concluded that she "cannot support Judge Gorsuch because a study of his opinions reveal a rigid ideology that always puts the little guy under the boot of corporations."

"This is a really difficult decision for me. I am not comfortable with either choice," McCaskill wrote in a Medium post. "I remain very worried about our polarized politics and what the future will bring, since I’m certain we will have a Senate rule change that will usher in more extreme judges in the future."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is confident they can deny Republicans the eight Democratic votes needed to advance Gorsuch over a filibuster, and there are few clear ways for Gorsuch to get to 60 votes with McCaskill's decision. Just two Democrats, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have declared support for Gorsuch.

Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Chris Coons of Delaware, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Dianne Feinstein of California, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia have not publicly announced their positions; neither has independent Angus King of Maine. Gorsuch now needs six of those 10 senators to support him to avoid a collision over the Senate rules.

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McConnell, meanwhile, must cobble together 50 of his 52 members to vote to gut the filibuster for high-court nominees via the "nuclear option," a unilateral vote to change the Senate rules. No Republicans have said they will vote against it, and despite the reservations of many in the GOP, it appears to be a done deal.

“He’s going to do the nuclear option,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). “He’s going to break the rules to change the rules. No doubt.”