WASHINGTON BUREAU ∙ NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
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ISSUE UPDATE
DATE: April 7, 2017
TO:
Concerned Parties
FROM: Hilary O. Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau
U.S. SENATE CONFIRMS JUDGE NEIL
GORSUCH TO THE SUPREME COURT
55 - 45 VOTE COMES AFTER MAJORITY PARTY
“GOES NUCLEAR” AND CHANGES THE RULES
THE ISSUE:
On April 6, 2017, the full U.S. Senate voted, by a simple majority, to “go nuclear” and change the rules so that a
nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court needed only a simple majority to be confirmed; not the 3/5 (or 60 votes)
previously required under the “filibuster rule.”
The filibuster has been viewed by many as a very useful tool in the U.S. Senate’s legislative process. In order to
get the requisite 60 votes necessary to end debate and move on to a full Senate vote, legislation and nominees
could not be purely partisan or outside of the mainstream. The filibuster is often the tool through which the
minority can and does make its voice heard; for over 200 years it has ensured that the majority party does not
“steamroll” through crucial policies or important nominees such as Supreme Court Justices. At least 60 Senators
had to feel comfortable supporting a policy or a person, which required reaching across the aisle to ensure
success. The result was often a policy that benefitted all Americans, not just one particular party, region of the
country, or partisan perspective. While the “filibuster” had long been used as a tactic to delay or stop legislation,
such as the (successful) efforts by southern Senators in the early- to mid-1900’s to kill anti-lynching legislation,
there has never before been even an attempt to alter or diminish the filibuster rule on issues as important as a
life-time appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This new change in the rules, which required only a simple majority (51 or more) of the votes, means that after
debate a full vote was held on the floor of the Senate in which Judge Neil Gorsuch needed only 51 votes in order
to become the next Supreme Court Justice. The final vote, was held in the early afternoon of Friday, 4/7/2017,
was 55- 45.
The NAACP argued that the Senate should have changed the nominee, not the rules.
The Executive Committee of the NAACP National Board of Directors, after a very exhaustive and thorough
review and assessment of his decisions, speeches, activities and writings, voted to follow the recommendation
of the Legal Committee of the NAACP National Board of Directors and oppose the nomination of Judge Gorsuch.
The votes of both the Legal Committee and the Executive Committee were unanimous.
See how each Senator voted on the “nuclear option” as well as on the
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Gorsuch confirmation
on the next page
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1. “NUCLEAR OPTION” / FINAL VOTE
Final vote on ruling to change the rules to require only a simple majority to confirm a nominee to
the U.S. Supreme Court
The change to the rules passed, by a vote of 48 to 52, on April 6, 2017
The NAACP OPPOSED the change.
VERMONT
2. GORSUCH NOMINATION / CONFIRMATION
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Confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice of the U.S.
SupremeLeahy
Court

Sanders (Ind)
Judge Gorsuch was confirmed by a vote of 55 -45 on April 7, 2017 
The NAACP OPPOSED the confirmation. 
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ALABAMA
Shelby
Strange
ALASKA
Murkowski
Sullivan
ARIZONA
McCain
Flake
ARKANSAS
Boozeman
Cotton
CALIFORNIA
Feinstein
Harris
COLORADO
Bennet
Gardner
CONNECTICUT
Blumenthal
Murphy
DELAWARE
Carper
Coons
FLORIDA
Nelson
Rubio
GEORGIA
Isakson
Perdue
HAWAII
Schatz
Hirono
IDAHO
Crapo
Risch
ILLINOIS
Durbin
Duckworth
INDIANA
Young
Donnelly
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2
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IOWA
Grassley
Ernst
KANSAS
Roberts
Moran
KENTUCKY
McConnell
Paul
LOUISIANA
Kennedy
Cassidy
MAINE
Collins
King (Ind.)
MARYLAND
Van Hollen
Cardin
MASSACHUSETTS
Warren
Markey
MICHIGAN
Stabenow
Peters
MINNESOTA
Klobuchar
Franken
MISSISSIPPI
Cochran
Wicker
MISSOURI
McCaskill
Blunt
MONTANA
Tester
Daines
NEBRASKA
Fischer
Sasse
NEVADA
Cortez Mastro
Heller
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2
NEW HAMPSHIRE
1
2
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Shaheen
Hassan
NEW JERSEY
Menendez
Booker
NEW MEXICO
Udall
Heinrich
NEW YORK
Schumer
Gillibrand
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NORTH CAROLINA
Burr
Tillis
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VIRGINIA
Warner
Kaine
WASHINGTON
Murray
Cantwell
WEST VIRGINIA
Manchin
Capito
WISCONSIN
Johnson
Baldwin
WYOMING
Enzi
Barrasso
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2
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NORTH DAKOTA
Hoeven
Heitkamp
OHIO
Brown
Portman
OKLAHOMA
Inhofe
Lankford
OREGON
Wyden
Merkley
PENNSYLVANIA
Casey
Toomey
RHODE ISLAND
Reed
Whitehouse
SOUTH CAROLINA
Graham
Scott
SOUTH DAKOTA
Thune
Rounds
TENNESSEE
Alexander
Corker
TEXAS
Cornyn
Cruz
UTAH
Hatch
Lee
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VOTE KEY
 = Voted in support
of the NAACP position
and against going
nuclear (vote #1)
and against the
confirmation of Judge
Neil Gorsuch to the US
Supreme Court (vote
#2)
= Voted against
the NAACP position
and in favor of going
nuclear (vote #1)
and in support of the
confirmation of Judge
Neil Gorsuch to the US
Supreme Court (Vote
#2)
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