GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson was among the 54 Senators that helped confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States on Friday.
Republicans invoked the so-called ‘nuclear option,’ which dropped the Senate’s typical 60 vote treshold to a simple majority of 51 votes.
The ‘nuclear option’ was previously used by former Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2013 to confirm lower level appointments.
The final tally on the 49-year-old Gorsuch was 54-45. He is expected to be sworn in next week.
On WTAQ’s Jerry Bader Show Friday, Senator Johnson noted Republicans should not be blamed for going ‘nuclear’ as they were merly following precedent set by Democrats four years ago.
The Wisconsin Republican believes voters gave the GOP a mandate to appoint a conservative justice when President Trump won election and Republicans maintained control of the Senate in November’s election.
Gorsuch, who has served on the United States’ Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals since being appointed in 2006, fills a Supreme Court seat that has been vacant since the February 2016 passing of Justice Antonin Scalia.
The confirmation gives the court a 5-4 conservative majority.
On Friday’s program, Bader noted that Johnson has softened his stance on the ‘nuclear option,’ which the senator previously opposed.
Johnson says “there really are no long term rules now in the Senate when just 51 senators can change them.”
To this point, the ‘nuclear option’ has only been used in confirmation votes. A petition circulating in the Senate is gathering signatures from senators who vow not to use that means on legislation.
As of Friday morning, over 40 Senators had reportedly signed the document.
Johnson says he “will not sign that letter.”
