It’s spring break week in Marietta, and families have scampered off to the nearest beach or fun park for a weeklong respite soon to return home to the azaleas and dogwoods in full bloom resembling the technicolor images you see on The Masters.
My husband Michael and I have chosen instead to load up our minivan and head to our nation’s capital. It will be our boys’ first time to see The Washington Monument and The Lincoln Memorial. Matthew, who just turned nine, wants to go to a Nationals game and eat hot dogs. Ryan, who is five, wants to “stop by” The White House.
It’s every family’s rite of passage – a desire to teach our children about our founding fathers, the constitution, and the privilege of freedom, liberty and justice for all.
We are also going to see “Uncle” Neil, who happens to have been nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court. We have been friends with Neil Gorsuch for more than three decades. My husband went to high school with Neil and the two have been close ever since. Michael was his best man and Neil is godfather to our boys. Uncle Neil was last in Marietta when the boys were baptized at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, and as I recall, we loaded him up in the same minivan to watch Matthew play baseball at Fullers Park.
On the 10-hour drive to D.C. from Marietta, the boys asked whether Uncle Neil will get the job. Echoing Sen. Mitch McConnell, I responded, “Yes, one way or another, he will be on the Supreme Court.”
After the results of Monday’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote, it can be confusing to know what is happening to the Supreme Court nomination. The Washington Post headline afterwards said, “Democrats secure enough votes to block Gorsuch, securing stage for nuclear option.” Our friends and family worried that he wouldn’t get the job.
And if the Senate Democrats are fighting, filibustering, and blocking, what exactly does Senator McConnell mean by one way or another?
Well, one way is that Judge Gorsuch gets the 60 votes needed for cloture – a procedural vote which ends debate and sets the stage for a final vote -- and avoids a filibuster altogether. This is still possible, but if you listen to Sen. Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, it is unlikely.
That's not to say all Democrats want a filibuster. Four Democratic senators have come out against it and feel that Judge Gorsuch deserves a final up-or-down vote. And just to clarify, contrary to what Senator Schumer has been saying, there is no such thing as a "60-vote standard" for Supreme Court nominees. Justice Clarence Thomas received 52 votes in 1991 and Justice Samuel Alito received 58 votes in 2006. Senator Schumer is moving the goalposts and hoping nobody notices.
The other way Judge Gorsuch gets confirmed is if Republicans invoke the “nuclear” option. This sounds daunting, but it is simply a Senate rules change that lowers the number of votes needed to end a filibuster from 60 to 51. Democrats used this same tactic in 2013 to change the rules for approving lower court judicial nominees. And yes, there are 52 Republican Senators and we are assuming they all stick together.
Critics of this approach claim that it breaks Senate tradition. What they overlook is that the Democratic filibuster of Gorsuch itself is a break from precedent – never in Senate history has there been a partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. Never.
For Democrats who want to avoid the nuclear option, it is not too late. They can still do the right thing by voting for cloture and sending Judge Gorsuch’s nomination to a final up-or-down vote. But if Democrats choose to pursue their unprecedented filibuster, they leave Republicans no choice but to ensure that Senate tradition is respected and this highly qualified nominee is confirmed with a simple majority.
In the meantime, we can all agree with Sen. Ben Sasse, who said earlier this week that now is a good time for America: “Baseball is back and Judge Gorsuch is one step closer to taking his seat on the Supreme Court.”
Grace Trent is former head of marketing for First Data and MCI and currently Managing Partner at Capellas Partners. She lives with her husband and two boys in Marietta.
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