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Democrats planning a likely futile gesture to send a message to Trump Desperate to placate their increasingly rabid far left-wing base, ethically-flexible Senate Democrats are planning to launch a filibuster against a Supreme Court nominee for the first time in a half-century and only the second time in American history. Their insistence on this course of action could very well lead to the abolition of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations.

The Senate’s most senior Democrat says he probably won’t join his party’s effort to filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch, in the first major indication that Republicans may not have to resort to the so-called “nuclear option” to fill the empty Supreme Court seat. Senator Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, said he’ll vote against Judge Gorsuch’s nomination, but doesn’t think a filibuster is the right path. “I am not inclined to filibuster, even though I’m not inclined to vote for him,” Leahy told the Vermont Digger on Sunday.

Senate Republicans had to know there would be a price for their unprecedented theft of President Barack Obama’s final Supreme Court pick last year. On Thursday, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, named it: Either find 60 votes to overcome a filibuster of President Trump’s extremely conservative nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, or find another, more moderate choice. The last four Supreme Court nominees — two from Mr. Obama and two from President George W. Bush — all met the 60-vote threshold, Mr. Schumer said, so it was fair to require the same of Judge Gorsuch.

Supreme Court: After Judge Neil Gorsuch spent 20 hours demonstrating that he is abundantly qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice, Democrats announced plans to filibuster his nomination. Good luck with that. By all accounts, Gorsuch put in a stellar performance in his confirmation hearing. Even the New York Times conceded that "if Democrats harbored any hope of raising doubts about Judge Gorsuch among Republicans, they came nowhere close." But as soon as the hearing ended, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he was going to filibuster the nomination anyway. Gorsuch, Schumer said, "was groomed by the Federalist Society...

Democrats may be ready to throw in the towel in opposing the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to be associate justice of the Supreme Court.  According to Politico, several sources are reporting that a group of Democrat senators may be willing to allow the Gorsuch confirmation to go through on the Senate floor in exchange for a pledge from Republicans not to get rid of the filibuster.  Their thinking is that if President Trump has another opportunity to name a Supreme Court justice, they want the option of blocking any nominee. Another vacancy would be far more consequential, as it...

As the Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing from witnesses for and against Judge Neil Gorsuch, his Supreme Court nomination was delivered a critical blow: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would join with other Democrats in filibustering Gorsuch — a move that would require at least 60 senators to vote to end debate on the nomination.

We are told that without 60 votes in the Senate, we cannot pass new health care legislation, so the only practical course is to accept the limited changes to Obamacare possible through “reconciliation.” Then there is the father of all lies. We are told not to worry about how bad this bill is, there will be phase 2, and after that, phase 3 – and then President Trump will keep his promises on health care. .....SNIP.... It’s a bigger problem than health care reform. If Republicans can’t get a single piece of any sort of legislation passed without 60 votes,...

Good news, they’re listening to you.  No other approach to repealing ObamaCare is possible.  It’s not ideological, it is simply reality.  The backstory on our prior explanations are HERE and expanded HERE. After listening to conservative groups at a White House meeting yesterday, it became obvious to POTUS  those group leaders/members did not understand WHY no other approach to repeal is possible.   POTUS asked Speaker Ryan to put this together and deliver it today: WOW: Paul Ryan's American Health Care Act (Obamacare Replacement) FULL PowerPoint Presentation Most of you already know this outline because you’ve understood the bigger picture.  Hopefully this message will reach the...

Donald Trump is scheduled to host Ted and Heidi Cruz at the White House on Wednesday. The president and the former presidential candidate will reportedly have dinner together Wednesday night. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the purpose of Trump and Cruz’s meeting.

Is the GOP Trying to Kill President Trump? March 3, 2017/by Lester Jackson I have long maintained that the Republican Party is a greater threat to representative democracy than the Democrats. Although they seek to misrepresent themselves, it is no secret what to expect from Democrats. But when Republicans lie to voters with repeatedly broken promises to resist the Democrats, voters are stripped of any election choice on controversial issues. Although it is clearly the function – and obligation – of a second major party to provide opposition, Republicans repeatedly have lied to get elected and then joined forces with...

Tuesday on ABC’s “The View,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the Democrats in the Senate have enough power to block President Donald Trump nominee for Supreme Court Justice, Judge Neil Gorsuch and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Schumer said, “They need 60 votes. And I believe — if Gorsuch keeps it up he’ll have a rough road to hoe to get those 60 on votes.” When asked about the Democrats power, he added, “We have enough to block to Gorsuch … People ask, do the Democrats have power? Are we in charge? No which means we...

Proponents of the nuclear option say it is necessary to prevent Democrats from using the filibuster to permanently prevent a vote to confirm Gorsuch. Opponents of the nuclear option say it will not only fundamentally alter the nature of the Senate, it will also greatly empower Democrats when they retake the Senate and the White House. At its core, the debate over the nuclear option highlights the tension between the need for debate and the need for finality on judicial matters. Unfortunately, exercising the nuclear option is a zero-sum game. If it’s invoked, debate is dead. If it isn’t, proponents...

What allows Schumer to thwart the majority’s will and paralyze the Senate? Not the U.S. Constitution, as the framers designed it. The answer is a centuries-old Senate practice called the filibuster. Senators in the minority could take the floor and talk endlessly, never agreeing to formally end debate so the majority could vote. They’d talk the legislation to death or “filibuster” it, in the process shutting down all other Senate business. The House never permitted it, always allowing a simple majority to shut down debate. In the Senate, the idea was to make sure the minority was heard. But over...

Republicans cheered Tuesday's historic confirmation vote for Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary — Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote — slamming Democrats as obstructionists and saying that President Donald Trump was entitled to his Cabinet picks. "President Trump has assembled a first-class team for his Cabinet, and obstructing all of these confirmation votes is only delaying the important work that needs to be done," Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said. "In my conversation with Betsy DeVos, I found her to have a deep appreciation for the value of public schools and a special concern for the needs of the...

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that he looks forward to meeting with President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, and has no intention of filibustering him with fellow Democrats. Manchin began the interview by scolding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and other Republican senators for refusing to allow a vote on former President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland last year. While Manchin acknowledged that Republicans probably had enough votes to block Garland, he said that they should have at least met with Garland and allowed a vote. Manchin then...

President Donald Trump said he will urge Senate Republicans to scrap filibuster rules, or take the so-called "nuclear option," if Democrats in the increasingly tense chamber use them to block his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. After Trump nominated the 49-year-old conservative appeals judge to the top U.S. court Tuesday night, Democrats signaled they could delay the process. If they filibuster, Republicans, who have 52 Senate seats, would need 60 votes to confirm him unless they cut that rule. Trump told reporters Wednesday that he would encourage Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to take that route,...

Matthews said politics have become so polarized that is natural to assume there will be a filibuster against Judge Gorsuch. "I think this is going to come down, to a sad denouement," Matthews said Wednesday night. "I think it's going to take 60 votes to get this approved and I think the Republicans will have their rank-and-file 52 votes will be there. But I don't think the Democrats are going to give them a single vote which mean this will go to a filibuster." "I don't think they'll get 60 votes because I don't think they'll get a single Democratic...

President Donald Trump tonight has nominated pro-life friendly federal appeals court Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch has taken the pro-life side in important cases and written a book excoriating assisted suicide. The 49-year-old Judge Gorsuch, if confirmed, would replace pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia – who supporting overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states to once again provide legal protection for unborn children. Justice Gorsuch is currently a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which includes the districts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, as well as the Eastern, Northern...

New plan, new plan! Uh-oh. It appears there’s trouble in “ugly Hollywood.” After promising that they would filibuster President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee - no matter who he or she was - it seems that cold feet have taken hold. Dems may now be looking for a respectable way to back away from Chuck Schumer’s obstructionist plans.

Senate Democrats are weighing whether to avoid an all-out war to block President Donald Trump's upcoming Supreme Court pick, instead considering delaying that battle for a future nomination that could shift the ideological balance of the court, sources say. Democrats privately discussed their tactics during a closed-door retreat in West Virginia last week. And a number of Democrats are trying to persuade liberal firebrands to essentially let Republicans confirm Trump's pick after a vigorous confirmation process -- since Trump is likely to name a conservative to replace the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. The reason for the tactic: Republicans are...