Senate panel favorably recommends Gorsuch to Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — A deeply divided Senate panel today favorably recommended Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, sending the nomination to the full Senate for what is expected to be a partisan showdown – and eventual confirmation.

The 11-9 committee vote for President Donald Trump's nominee, strictly along party lines, came shortly after Democrats secured enough votes to block the nomination in the full Senate. But that Democratic success was virtually certain to be a short-lived political victory, as Republicans vowed to change Senate rules to put Gorsuch on the court and score a much-needed win for their party.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said before the vote that he would vote with his fellow Democrats to block the nomination later this week, giving them the 41 votes needed. Once they do block it, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is likely to change Senate rules so that Gorsuch can be confirmed with a simple majority in the 100-seat chamber instead of the 60 votes now required.

The starkly divided Senate panel weighed Gorsuch's nomination, with Republicans casting the Denver-based appeals court judge as fiercely independent and Democrats complaining that his ambiguous testimony makes him the wrong choice.

Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, strongly defended Gorsuch as a fair and independent man. He said Democrats had worked to try and find fault with him, but "that fault will not stick."