Senator Ben Cardin says he will support the filibuster against the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cardin said he held Republicans responsible for making the confirmation process untenable and for the consequences.
He also took aim at the failure of the Republicans to allow the consideration of Merrick Garland President Obama’s nominee to fill the same seat.
The Maryland Democrat made the announcement on Twitter and it came shortly after it was announced that the Democrats had the 41 votes needed to sustain a filibuster.
This will leave Republicans with only what is called the nuclear option, that is, changing the rules of the Senate to require only 51 votes to approve the appoint instead of the 60 under a filibuster.
Normally Cardin supports an up or down vote on a Supreme Court nominee.
During the Obama administration Democrats began the road toward eliminating a 60 requirement for lower court nominees in the face of continuous Republican use of the filibuster rule to block or slow them down.
