Senate's 'Nuclear Option' Blows Up Senate Rules, Gorsuch Confirmed

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The old Senate Rule of requiring 60 votes to confirm a Supreme Court Justice, served to ensure that a more mainstream judge, acceptable to both political parties, would be nominated and confirmed. Eliminating that rule today, the Senate ensured that Judge Gorsuch and all future candidates would be political in nature, requiring only a simple majority to confirm them, and not requiring any votes from the opposition party. The Senate clearly wanted a judge right of center, and deemed Judge Merrick Garland as too much in the center by not even taking the time to consider him. President Obama had nominated Garland because of his center position so as to please some of both parties as opposed to pleasing only one party such as happened with Gorsuch, notably more politically to the right of center.