--- title: Neil Gorsuch Confirmation: Chuck Schumer Plans To Filibuster description: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced that he will oppose Neil Gorsuch and filibuster his nomination to the Supreme Court. canonical: https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-23T15:29:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:21:50.144Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Just Moved Closer to Filibustering Neil Gorsuch og:description: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote against cloture. og:url: https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38fbe9c7d6f74e96/6988bf9a196cf4265b03f5be/chuck-schumer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4782 og:image:height: 2690 og:image:alt: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Just Moved Closer to Filibustering Neil Gorsuch twitter:description: Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote against cloture. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38fbe9c7d6f74e96/6988bf9a196cf4265b03f5be/chuck-schumer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Just Moved Closer to Filibustering Neil Gorsuch > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d9496830-f542-4718-9501-0c60acd21fb6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Chuck Schumer Announces He Will Oppose Gorsuch Nomination [Watch (HLS stream): Chuck Schumer Announces He Will Oppose Gorsuch Nomination](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IWjKvMQE.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2017-03-23. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he will oppose President Trump's nominee on a cloture vote, prepping the way for a potential filibuster._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 23, 2017 3:29 PM UTC Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he will oppose President Trump's nominee on a cloture vote, prepping the way for a potential filibuster.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 23, 2017 3:29 PM UTC Democrats just moved a little closer to [filibustering Supreme Court nominee](http://time.com/4656072/supreme-court-neil-gorsuch-democrats/?iid=sr-link1) Neil Gorsuch. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he will oppose President Trump’s nominee on a cloture vote, prepping the way for a potential filibuster. Speaking on the Senate floor, the New York Democrat argued that Gorsuch “almost instinctively favors the powerful over the weak,” that he “was unable to sufficiently convince me that he’d be an independent check” on President Trump, and that he’s “not a neutral legal mind but someone with a deep-seated conservative ideology.” As the leading Democrat in the Senate, Schumer’s opposition to Gorsuch isn’t surprising, but going a step further and saying that he would vote against cloture was the loudest telegraph yet of potential Democratic plans for a filibuster. “I urge my colleagues to do the same,” Schumer said. Senate rules require 60 votes to end debate and hold an up-or-down vote on a Supreme Court nominee, then a simple majority to confirm them. There are 52 Republicans in the Senate, so they could confirm Gorsuch along party lines, but they’ll need eight Democrats to join them in voting to end debate. [Ten Democrats](http://time.com/4663815/neil-gorsuch-democrats-senate-vote/?iid=sr-link1) are up for reelection in states that Trump won, so Republican lobbying efforts have already been underway to push them not to filibuster. But in the event that Republicans couldn’t get 60 votes, they could still trigger the so-called “[nuclear option](http://time.com/4678691/republicans-neil-gorsuch-congress-nuclear-option/?iid=sr-link1)” to end the filibuster entirely, which would allow them to muscle Gorsuch through with a simple majority. Schumer warned Republicans against taking that option. “The answer isn’t to change the rules, it’s to change the nominee,” he said. Schumer’s announcement came during the fourth and final day of Gorsuch’s hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Throughout the week Gorsuch calmly refused to answer questions [about specific cases](http://time.com/4708107/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-hearing-day-two/), leading the senators to [bicker among themselves](http://time.com/4709355/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-senators-partisan/) about partisanship on the committee. ## Transcript [00:00] After careful deliberation, I've concluded that I cannot [00:04] support Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the supreme [00:08] court. Judge Gorsuch was unable to sufficiently convince [00:11] me that he'd be an independent check on a President who [00:15] has shown almost no restraint from executive overreach. [00:20] Second, he was unable to convince me that he would be a [00:24] main stream justice who could rule free from the biases [00:28] of politics and ideology. His career and judicial [00:32] record suggest not a neutral legal mind, but someone with [00:36] a deep seeded conservative ideology. He was groomed [00:40] by the Federalist Society and has not shown one inch [00:45] of difference between his views and theirs. And [00:50] finally, he is someone who almost instinctively favors [00:54] the powerful over the weak, corporations over working [00:58] Americans There could not be a worse time for [01:03] someone with those instincts. They don't even mind that [01:06] this investigation is moving forward under a cloud of an FBI [01:10] investigation of the president's campaign. The republican [01:14] tell the Supreme court she'd open free her under [01:16] Democratic president, who was under no investigation. But [01:21] now, we're rushing to fill the seat, for a President whose [01:25] campaign is under investigation. It is unseemly [01:30] and wrong, to be moving so fast on a lifetime appointment [01:34] in such circumstances. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/"},"headline":"Democrats Just Moved Closer to Filibustering Neil Gorsuch","datePublished":"2017-03-23T15:29:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T08:21:50.144Z","description":"Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced that he will oppose Neil Gorsuch and filibuster his nomination to the Supreme Court.","url":"https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/","keywords":["Congress","Supreme Court","chuck schumer","Neil Gorsuch"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38fbe9c7d6f74e96/6988bf9a196cf4265b03f5be/chuck-schumer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38fbe9c7d6f74e96/6988bf9a196cf4265b03f5be/chuck-schumer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington","caption":"U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington","creditText":"Joshua Roberts—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/","name":"Democrats Just Moved Closer to Filibustering Neil Gorsuch"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Chuck Schumer Announces He Will Oppose Gorsuch Nomination","description":"Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he will oppose President Trump's nominee on a cloture vote, prepping the way for a potential filibuster.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IWjKvMQE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-23T16:30:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IWjKvMQE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/","duration":"PT1M36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4711010/neil-gorsuch-confirmation-chuck-schumer-filibuster/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```