Opposition to Trump’s court pick grows

WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic opposition to President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee swelled Friday as Democrats neared the numbers needed for a filibuster, setting up a showdown with Republicans who have the votes to confirm Neil Gorsuch.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans against changing Senate rules, which could prove momentous for the chamber and would allow all future Supreme Court nominees to get on the court regardless of opposition from the minority party.

Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Claire McCaskill of Missouri became the latest Democratic senators to announce their opposition to Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge in Denver whose conservative rulings make him an heir to the justice he would replace, the late Antonin Scalia.

Republicans are furious at the Democrats’ plans, arguing that filibusters of Supreme Court justices have been exceedingly rare, and accusing Democrats of responding to political pressures from a liberal base that still hasn’t accepted Trump’s election win.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is expected to respond to a Democratic filibuster by unilaterally changing Senate rules to lower the threshold for Supreme Court justices from 60 votes to a simple majority in the 100-member Senate.