Obviously a filibuster would kill the nomination, but it was Harry Reid who used the nuclear option of majority vote on Judicial Appointments and thus the extension by Mitch on Gorsuch.
Yes, very true, let’s give Harry Reid his credit, for opening this door to ending filibusters. His actions ended the filibuster for judges except for Supreme Court justices, as I recall.
If not for Harry’s actions, we would not have seen the nuclear option for the Supreme Court detonated by Mitch McConnell at the time of Gorsuch’s nomination.