Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) on Sunday announced that he will vote to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He is the third Democrat to do so.
“After meeting with Judge Gorsuch, conducting a thorough review of his record, and closely following his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I believe that he is a qualified jurist who will base his decisions on his understanding of the law and is well-respected among his peers,” Donnelly wrote in a statement.
Donnelly said that he was “deeply disappointed” by the way Republican senators refused to give Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to the court, a hearing — let alone an up-or-down vote — last year.
“But as Senator, I can only vote on the nominee that comes to the Senate floor,” he said. “However, I believe that we should keep the current 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees.”
Senate Republicans have indicated that they are willing to invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to ram Gorsuch’s nomination through on a simple majority vote in the face of a Democratic filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Sunday said that the Senate is “going to confirm Judge Gorsuch this week.”
“The way in which that occurs is in the hands of the Democratic minority,” he said.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) announced separately on Thursday that they will vote next week to confirm Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
