Ed O'Keefe

Democratic Sens successfully blocked Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court from advancing in the US Senate on April 6, sparking a bitter clash with Republicans over how the chamber confirms high court nominees. By a vote of 55 to 45, Gorsuch failed to earn the 60 votes needed to end debate on his nomination. In response, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has vowed he will change Senate rules in order to confirm Gorsuch and all future Supreme Court nominees with a simple majority vote.

A final confirmation vote on Gorsuch is not scheduled until April 7, when 52 Republicans and at least three Democrats — from states won by Trump in 2016’s election — are expected to vote for him to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the high court. But the next 24 hours could be among the most contentious in recent Senate history. “This will be the first and last partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nomination,” McConnell vowed April 6.