--- title: Neil Gorsuch: Mitch McConnell files for Cloture description: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has filed a motion for cloture on the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch canonical: https://time.com/4726058/mitch-mcconnell-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-filibuster/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-04T23:56:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:12:48.753Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mitch McConnell Takes First Steps Toward Blocking the Neil Gorsuch Filibuster og:description: A step that could result in invoking the "nuclear option." og:url: https://time.com/4726058/mitch-mcconnell-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-filibuster/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe5c33c5cf5573b6/6988c15dfb4eac3f2489162f/mcconnell-cloture.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Senate Lawmakers Address The Press After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mitch McConnell Takes First Steps Toward Blocking the Neil Gorsuch Filibuster twitter:description: A step that could result in invoking the "nuclear option." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe5c33c5cf5573b6/6988c15dfb4eac3f2489162f/mcconnell-cloture.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mitch McConnell Takes First Official Steps Toward Blocking the Neil Gorsuch Filibuster  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 4, 2017 11:56 PM UTC  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) answers reporters' questions at a news conference following the weekly Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol April 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) answers reporters' questions at a news conference following the weekly Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol April 4, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Apr 4, 2017 11:56 PM UTC [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell](http://time.com/4708190/mitch-mcconnell-health-care-opposition-consequences/) has filed a motion for cloture on the [Supreme Court](http://time.com/4722641/senate-vote-neil-gorsuch-livestream/) nomination of [Neil Gorsuch](http://time.com/4720478/neil-gorsuch-filibuster-republicans-reaction/), taking the the first official step in an inevitable partisan showdown that could result in the GOP invoking the [“nuclear option.”](http://time.com/4723610/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-nuclear-option-filibuster/) The Senate will vote to invoke cloture on Thursday. “Due to an unprecedented filibuster threat, I just filed cloture on the Judge [#Gorsuch](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gorsuch?src=hash) nomination,” McConnell [tweeted](https://twitter.com/SenateMajLdr/status/849389794694225920) Tuesday evening. > [](https://twitter.com/SenateMajLdr/status/849389794694225920) The cloture motion, which McConnell was expected to file, is a procedural tactic: a vote to end the debate over the confirmation. But the Senate needs 60 votes to invoke cloture. And enough Democrats have said they would vote against it, meaning they can filibuster the nomination. This sets the stage for McConnell to change the rules by introducing a vote for the “nuclear option.” If the nuclear option is approved, Gorsuch — and all subsequent Supreme Court nominees — will only need a simple majority for confirmation, rather than 60 votes needed for cloture. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4726058/mitch-mcconnell-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-filibuster/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4726058/mitch-mcconnell-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-filibuster/"},"headline":"Mitch McConnell Takes First Official Steps Toward Blocking the Neil Gorsuch Filibuster","datePublished":"2017-04-04T23:56:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:12:48.753Z","description":"This is the first official step in an inevitable partisan showdown that will result in invoking the \"nuclear option\"","url":"https://time.com/4726058/mitch-mcconnell-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-filibuster/","keywords":["Congress","Supreme Court","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe5c33c5cf5573b6/6988c15dfb4eac3f2489162f/mcconnell-cloture.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe5c33c5cf5573b6/6988c15dfb4eac3f2489162f/mcconnell-cloture.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Lawmakers Address The Press After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons","caption":"Senate Lawmakers Address The Press After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","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":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4726058/mitch-mcconnell-neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-filibuster/","name":"Mitch McConnell Takes First Official Steps Toward Blocking the Neil Gorsuch Filibuster"}}]}] ```