Dem senator: Confirm Gorsuch, Garland simultaneously

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) is floating the idea of simultaneously confirming both Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee, and Merrick Garland, former President Obama’s nominee, to the Supreme Court.

The New Mexico Democrat told reporters Monday that he pitched moving the two judges during his meeting with Gorsuch, according to multiple reports.

“[Trump’s] got a book that’s widely acclaimed in terms of ‘The Art of the Deal.’ This is a deal that makes sense for the country,” Udall said, according to CNN. “It’s a deal that heals the real deep wounds we’ve had in this election.”

{mosads}Under Udall’s pitch, Trump would meet with justices considering retiring.

If he promised to nominate Garland — whom Republicans refused to give a hearing or a vote — a justice would submit their letter of resignation. The Senate would move both Gorsuch and Garland’s nomination simultaneously.

Republicans will need at least eight Democratic senators to overcome the 60-vote procedural hurdle needed to get Gorsuch through the Senate.

GOP leadership has refused to rule out using the “nuclear option” if Democrats block Trump’s pick, saying only that Gorsuch will be confirmed. The move would amount to a historic step that would lower the threshold for Supreme Court nominees to 51 votes.

It’s unlikely GOP lawmakers would go along with Udall’s pitch, given that Trump ran his presidential campaign pledging to appoint conservative judges.

Udall’s proposal is similar to a 2004 episode of “The West Wing.”

In the TV show, the Democratic president needs to fill a Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of a GOP-appointed justice.

As part of a deal to preserve the balance of the court, the president and his staff convince the chief justice to retire and nominate a younger conservative judge to serve on the Supreme Court, as well as a judge considered too liberal to otherwise be confirmed, to be the chief justice.

But an aide for Udall told CNN that the Democratic senator’s plan isn’t ripped from the “West Wing” plot and that he’s only seen a few episodes of the TV show.

Trump is expected to potentially be able to confirm up to three justices to the Supreme Court. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has predicted that another justice could step down by the end of the year.

Udall demurred on whether his plan is realistic, telling reporters it was “just an idea.”

“I threw it out to them,” he told reporters, according to The Washington Examiner. “I throw it out to you.”

Conservatives and the White House dismissed Udall’s proposal, noting there is only one Supreme Court vacancy currently. 

“The President is focused on having the Senate confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch for the only open seat on the Supreme Court,” a White House spokesperson told The Hill. 

Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director for the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, added that it would be “presumptuous” to talk about another vacancy. 
 
“This is nothing more than a gimmick to distract from Judge Gorsuch’s tremendous qualifications that would make him a great Supreme Court Justice. Instead of playing silly partisan political games, Senator Udall should support an up or down vote on Judge Gorsuch,” she said. 
 
Updated 11:03 p.m. 
Tags Ted Cruz Tom Udall

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