The U.S. Senate chose to go "nuclear" and confirmed Neil Gorsuch as a judge to the U.S. Supreme Court. Arizona’s senators are both happy with the confirmation but have mixed feelings on how it happened.
During a Facebook Live Town Hall, U.S. Sen. John McCain said the nuclear option to change Senate rules to allow for a majority vote — instead of the previous 60 required votes to confirm Gorsuch to the court — was something that had to be done.
But he’s not totally happy about it.
“I ended up voting for the change in the rule, so that I could vote for Judge Gorsuch to be an associate judge on the Supreme Court," McCain said. “But I want to finally add, we will regret this day.”
During a separate press conference, U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake said it’s too bad they had to go with this option.
“I do suspect that later on we will have wished we hadn’t done it,” he said. “But, I don’t think we had any choice," Flake said.
Flake has been a supporter of Judge Gorsuch’s nomination since it was announced and is pleased with the Senate’s vote.
“If you can’t confirm Neil Gorsuch, then I don’t know who you could confirm to the Supreme Court,” Flake said.
Gorsuch is set to be sworn in on Monday.
