Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said Monday that, if Democrats regain control of the Senate and the White House, they will reverse Republicans’ change to the filibuster rules for Supreme Court nominees.
On Thursday, the Senate voted on party lines to change those rules so that votes to confirm high court nominees could proceed without what previously was the 60 votes necessary to end debate on the nominations.
In 2013, Democrats voted for the same rule change, but only for lower court and executive branch nominees.
“When the Democrats return to the majority and capture the presidency, which we will, that day is going to arrive, we will restore the 60-vote margin,” Markey told MSNBC’s Katy Tur. “We will ensure that, for the Supreme Court, there is that special margin that any candidate has to reach because that is essential to ensuring that our country has a confidence in those people that are nominated, rather than just someone who just passes a litmus test.”
Markey mentioned how Trump had promised during the presidential campaign that anyone he nominated to the Court would be anti-abortion and pro-gun rights, what the senator described as litmus tests.
“You don’t want anyone to be able to be confirmed just with a bare majority,” Markey said. “You want to make sure that there are protections against extreme views being put on the Supreme Court.”
Watch below via MSNBC:
Sen Markey to @KatyTurNBC: “We will restore the 60-vote margin” on #SCOTUS noms if Dems take back the majority: https://t.co/CeTh54qZaM
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) April 10, 2017
