Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took Senate Democrats to task for their promised “unprecedented partisan filibuster” against Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination during remarks  today on the Senate floor. To make his point that Democrats made up their minds long ago to oppose whomever President Donald J. Trump nominated, McConnell pointed out Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, even before Judge Gorsuch was nominated, mused on a liberal talk show about holding the seat open indefinitely.

So as McConnell says, it doesn’t matter whom Trump nominates:

“Democrats would filibuster Ruth Bader Ginsburg if President Trump nominated her.”

And McConnell correctly says “we all know why.” Under Schumer’s obstructionist leadership, the Democrats are kowtowing to the extremist left-wing special interests that refuse to get over the results of the election and demand Democrats oppose everything Trump.

You can watch and read Majority Leader McConnell’s remarks below:

Transcript:

Neil Gorsuch is eminently qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. He was confirmed by the Senate to his federal judgeship with no Democratic opposition — none. He participated there in more than 2,700 cases, writing in the majority 99% of the time — and enjoying unanimous support 97% of the time. He received the highest possible rating from a group the Democratic Leader called the “gold standard” for evaluating judicial nominations — the American Bar Association. He’s earned high praise from across the political spectrum, with Democrats and Republicans alike attesting to his qualifications, his fairness, and his impartiality.

He also enjoys the support of a bipartisan majority of the Senate. And yet, the Democratic leadership is now determined to block his confirmation with the first successful partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in American history. They proved that in yesterday’s procedural vote. Judge Neil Gorsuch is one of the most impressive nominees we’ve ever seen. If a widely-praised nominee like this can’t get past a Democratic filibuster, then no nominee of a Republican president could.

Democrats would filibuster Ruth Bader Ginsburg if President Trump nominated her. We all know why. Democrats are bowing to Hard-Left special interests that can’t get over the results of the election and thus are demanding complete Democratic opposition to everything this president touches. And, as the Washington Post just reported, the Democrat Leader “seemed ready to endorse every argument activists made.”

It seems some Democrats made up their minds long ago to oppose whomever this president nominated. The Democratic Leader himself indicated as much before Judge Gorsuch was even selected. He even mused on a liberal talk show about holding the seat open indefinitely. So, it doesn’t really matter who this president nominates. A Democratic minority is determined to successfully launch an unprecedented partisan filibuster regardless. Perhaps that’s why Democrats still have yet to put forward a cogent rationale to oppose him.

Not that it would be easy you understand. As a longtime Democrat and board member of the left-leaning American Constitution Society put it: “The Senate should confirm [Judge Gorsuch] because there is no principled reason to vote no.” Well, if there’s no principled reason to vote no on this nomination, then there’s certainly no principled reason to prevent the Senate from taking a vote on it at all. But that’s just what a partisan Democratic minority of the Senate is threatening to do — for the first time in the nearly 230-year history of the Senate.

Let me remind colleagues of something I said yesterday. When President Clinton nominated Justice Ginsburg, I voted to confirm her. When President Clinton nominated Justice Breyer, I voted to confirm him. When President Obama nominated Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan, I led my party in working to ensure that they received an up-or-down vote — there was not a filibuster. I knew I would often disagree with their opinions on the court. I wasn’t wrong about that. But I thought it was the right thing to do.

I understand that our Democratic colleagues are currently under a great deal of pressure from special interests on the Far Left. I think everyone in elected office can empathize with a situation like that. Listening to these Hard Left special interests may seem like the politically expedient thing for Democrats to do for their party today, but I ask them to make their decision based on what they know is right for the country tomorrow.

There is still time for them to make the right choice. There is still time for them to support a nominee who even longtime Democrats have praised — or, at the very least, to not block him with the first successful partisan filibuster in American history.

So I hope Democrats reevaluate their position before the important vote we’ll take tomorrow. I hope they’ll consider what their actions would mean for future Supreme Court confirmations. I hope they’ll consider what their actions could mean for the future of this body more broadly. Because, as we all know, the American people will be watching, history will record the decision Democrats make, and there simply is no principled reason to oppose this exceptional Supreme Court nominee.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that McConnell claims he has the votes necessary to thwart a planned Democratic filibuster of Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination. I hope he is right. There is no reason, let alone legitimate reason, to oppose the confirmation of Judge Gorsuch. The Democrats are mounting this unprecedented obstruction for petty partisan politics.