It is unlikely that Neil Gorsuch will receive the 60 votes needed in the Senate to become a Supreme Court justice, Sen. Chris Coons told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday.
Coons said he regrets that "almost certainly" Republicans will resort to the so-called nuclear option to change the rules to a simple majority so President Donald Trump's pick will be confirmed.
He said this was a tragic situation and that he is "very concerned about where we're headed."
The Delaware senator added that there were colleagues on both sides of the aisle who feel the same way.
"There's Republicans still very mad at us over the 2013 change to the filibuster rule, we're mad at them about shutting down the government, they're mad at us for Gorsuch, and we're not headed in a good direction," he said.
When asked if it was proper to try and scuttle Gorsuch's confirmation mostly on the basis of the fact that Republicans refused to hold a hearing for former President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, Coons answered that "Gorsuch got what Garland didn't, which was a fair hearing. He got a full four days of hearings last week. I questioned him vigorously, some would say aggressively. And he is a charming man, he's got a good résumé, he's got strong qualifications in terms of his education, his service on the court, but he would be by some measures the most conservative justice on the Supreme Court."
Republicans only have a simple majority of 52 seats in the Senate and would need eight Democrats to support Gorsuch in order to prevent a filibuster unless the rules are altered to have only 51 needed to prevent such a move.
So far no Democrats have announced that they intend to vote for Gorsuch, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to get him confirmed before the April 8 recess even if he does not get 60 votes, indicating that he would indeed use the nuclear option.
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